BX 8345 


.Ho 

' - 




• *'•- 























*<v 

















• > 







*+*, 



^ 



^ • 










* V 

■^ 






o_ * 























THE ECCLESIASTICAL 
POLITY OF METHODISM 



ftefenbeft: 



A REFUTATION OF CERTAIN OBJECTIONS TO 
THE SYSTEM OF ITINERANCY 



THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



BY F. HODGSON, D.D. 



From whom the whole body fitly joined together and com- 
pacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the 
effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase 
of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.— Ephe si ANsiv, 16. 



3Ktm~Vlovk\ 



PUBLISHED BY LANE & SCOTT, 

200 Mulberry-street. 
JOSEPH LONGKIXG, PRINTER. 

1848. 



.He 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, by 
LANE & SCOTT. 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern 
District of New-York. 

In Exchange 
22 Jet907 



PREFACE. 



The contents of this little volume were first 
published in a series of numbers in a weekly 
religious periodical. 

They are offered to the public in this form, in 
compliance with a request of the Philadelphia 
Annual Conference, held in April, 1847. The 
author deemed the thoughts here recorded of 
some importance, or he would not have employ- 
ed his time in writing them ; but he was greatly 
surprised by the reading and passage of the 
following resolution : — 

" Eesolved, That brother Francis Hodgson 
be respectfully requested to prepare for publi- 
cation, in book form, certain articles which re- 
cently appeared from his pen, under the title of 
The Ecclesiastical Polity of Methodism: 
defended, and that we recommend them to the 
publishers in New- York, to be issued in cheap 
style, for general circulation." 

This estimation was favorable beyond his 
most sanguine hopes. 



4 PREFACE. 

Some may be ready to ask, Why write and 
publish another book, at this time, in defense 
of the economy of Methodism? Have we not 
within a few months been favored with the 
works of Stevens and Porter on the same sub- 
ject? It is due, perhaps, to the Philadelphia 
Conference to say, that, when the above reso- 
lution was passed, these excellent works were 
not yet published ; whereas the articles which it 
recommends to be published had been issued 
for more than a year, the first appearing on the 
27th of December, 1845. 

At this time a great many minds, of various 
degrees of cultivation and power, are engaged 
in the investigation of social institutions, poli- 
tical and ecclesiastical. This may be produc- 
tive of much good. For, although forms of 
government may not be of primary importance, 
they may greatly promote or obstruct the hap- 
piness of society. A well-constituted ecclesi- 
astical government is a mighty engine by which 
the moral power of the church is advantageously 
and effectively applied, and even augmented. 
All this inquiry, this agitation, this shaking of 
systems, may be prelusive to that more perfect 
state of society in which those things only will 
remain which cannot be shaken. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Opposition to Methodism — Object of the author — 
Itinerancy objected to — Comparison instituted — Dif- 
ficulties attendant upon the election of pastors by 
churches or congregations Page 9 

CHAPTER H. 

Difficulties subsequent to election — Calls may be re- 
jected — A minister when settled may not suit — A 
church may be able to retain a favorite minister but 
a short time 17 

CHAPTER IH. 

Further difficulties — Elections liable to be annulled — 
Authorities 22 

CHAPTER IV. 

Manner of entering the ministry, and of appointment to 
pastoral charge, in the M. E. Church : in the Congre- 
gational and Presbyterian churches — The difference 
estimated 31 

CHAPTER V. 

Superiority of Methodism — Pastors obtained without 
loss of time 40 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Our system avoids dangerous excitements — Liabilities 
of the opposite plan Page 43 

CHAPTER VII. 

Frequent changes not peculiar to Methodism — Advan- 
tages of the itinerant system in respect to change — 
How to effect the removal of an unacceptable min- 
ister 50 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The starvation plan — Cautionary measures recommend- 
ed — Adverse consequences of changes — Alienation 
of brethren — Division . . 57 

CHAPTER IX. 

Reputation of the ministry injured — Temporal embar- 
rassments resulting — Personal degradation submitted 
to 62 

CHAPTER X. 
Same subject continued 71 

CHAPTER XI. 

Superiority of Methodism further illustrated — Provides 
for a more effective employment of ministerial talent 
— Auspicious influence upon young men — Retains 
old men longer in effective service 76 



CONTENTS. 7 

CHAPTER XII. 

Our system equalizes more than any other the labors 
and support of the ministry — Distributes more equally 
the gifts of the ministry — Opens a wider field of use- 
fulness Page 81 

CHAPTER XHI. 

Our system carries the gospel and its ordinances where 
they could not be carried upon any other plan — Affect- 
ing picture of moral desolations incident to the oppo- 
site scheme — These avoided by Methodism — Keeps 
churches supplied, and ministers employed . . 86 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Additional objections considered — The Methodist itine- 
rant ministry shown to be permanent — Favorable to 
the diffusion of religious knowledge and to growth in 
piety 95 

CHAPTER XV. 

Our system provides suitably for the universal fondness 
for novelty — Probable result of systematic and judi- 
cious change of pastors in other denominations — 
Affords ample opportunity for giving varied instruc- 
tion 101 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Our system not unfavorable to study and pulpit prepara- 
tion — Opinion of Rev. Dr. Baird — Practice of Presi- 
dent Davies — Provides adequate security against false 



8 CONTENTS. 

teachers — Does not deprive the churches of resident 
pastors and teachers — Past usefulness — Adapted to a 
crowded, as well as a sparse, population . Page 107 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Unfounded comparison between Congregational and 
Presbyterian evangelists and missionaries, and the 
itinerant ministers of the M. E. Church — Concio ad 
Clerum of Rev. A. Newton — The operations of evan- 
gelists and missionaries incongruous with the interests 
of a settled ministry 118 

CHAPTER XVIH. 

Methodism does not deprive its churches of any right by 
its mode of supplying them with pastors . . .126 



THE 

POLITY OF METHODISM DEFENDED. 

CHAPTER I. 

Opposition to Methodism — Object of the author — 
Itinerancy objected to — Comparison instituted — Dif- 
ficulties attendant upon the election of pastors by 
churches or congregations. 

The ecclesiastical polity of Methodism is 
frequently assailed by both ministers and 
laymen of the several leading religious 
denominations. It is represented as de- 
grading to our membership in general, and 
our ministry in particular, requiring of 
them a very servile submission to authority ; 
as dangerous to the civil institutions of the 
country ; and as anti-republican, aristocrati- 
cal, despotic, and unscriptural. These repre- 
sentations are made in conversation, tracts, 
pamphlets, periodicals, and in books, some 
of which are written for the purpose, mainly, 
of recommending the polity of the respect- 



10 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

ive denominations to which the writers 
belong; others for the professed purpose of 
enlightening the public in respect to the 
evils and absurdities of Methodism. 

Now if we believe that our system of 
church government is Scriptural and ration- 
al ; and if we prefer it because we conceive 
it to be better adapted than any other to 
the great purpose for which Christ esta- 
blished his church upon earth ; can we, by 
our silence, suffer it to become the object 
of suspicion and dislike, without serious 
neglect of duty toward God and our fellow- 
beings ? 

I do not call in question the right of any 
to examine our system, or to condemn it, 
publicly or privately, if, in their judgment, 
it deserve such condemnation. I claim 
only, that we, who view it in a different 
light, may be under a solemn obligation to 
defend it. I, for one, shall endeavor so to 
do. 

I shall take up, first, the manner in 
which our system distributes ministerial 
labor, or, in other words, our itinerant 
ministry. 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 11 

The grand central arrangement in the 
economy of Methodism — that which exerts 
a modifying influence on all the other parts 
of the system — is its itinerating missionary 
ministry. 

As it is not my object to eulogize, but 
merely to defend, I shall proceed at once 
to an examination of the objections which 
are urged against it. 

The most frequent, and perhaps the 
most popular, objection is, that it does not 
allow the churches to choose their own 
pastors ; and that, when they are accident- 
ally or providentially suited, they are not 
allowed to retain the object of their prefer- 
ence. 

That our usages, in this respect, are dif- 
ferent from those of many other denomi- 
nations is admitted. Were our ministers 
and churches allowed to enter into mutual 
contracts, as theirs do, our itinerancy could 
not exist. This, I think, must be obvious 
to any one w T ho will give the subject a 
moment's consideration. We should fall, 
inevitably, into the plan of a settled minis- 
try. Nor is it wonderful that particular 



12 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

churches among us should sometimes be 
subject to the pastoral charge of ministers 
who do not suit them in every particular. 
This difficulty is peculiar to no system. 
Our brethren who object, need not be 
astonished to find, that we have diligently 
inquired how far we should be likely to 
avoid it, by adopting their plan. I pur- 
pose to institute a comparison between 
our system and that by which particular 
churches elect their pastors, and settle 
them for life, or for a long or an indefinite 
period. 

Can those churches always procure the 
ministers whom they prefer above all 
others? Whatsoever diversities of cha- 
racter and condition may characterize 
churches, they are all alike in some re- 
spects ; they all desire the services of 
those whom they deem able ministers. 
Suppose, then, that a church is without a 
pastor. The leading men begin to consult 
with each other. A meeting must be 
called. An election must take place. 
The Rev. John Angell James, a very po- 
pular and useful Independent minister of 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 13 

Birmingham, in England, in a work en- 
titled " The Church Member's Guide," 
which has been republished in this country 
under the editorial supervision of the Rev. 
J. O. Choules, an eminent Baptist minister, 
and with an Introduction by the Rev. 
Hubbard Winslow, " pastor of the Bow- 
doin-street Church, Boston," recommends, 
that " a committee, composed of the dea- 
cons, or of the deacons and a few of the 
most judicious members, should be ap- 
pointed to procure supplies, and look out 
for candidates." Page 168. 

And now the church's difficulties com- 
mence. They must select a minister and 
determine upon the amount of salary to 
be offered, and it is by no means certain 
that the electors will at once agree in re- 
ference to either. If the pastorate be a 
desirable one, it is likely that a number of 
candidates will display their capabilities 
before them, and each secure ardent sup- 
porters. But it is important, if not indis- 
pensable, that the election should be nearly, 
if not quite, unanimous. The reasons are 
obvious. No judicious minister will con- 



14c POLITY OF METHODISM. 

sent to place himself in the relations con- 
templated, when a considerable number 
were in the minority at his election. His 
happiness and usefulness would be greatly 
hazarded by the step. This is also a mat- 
ter in which the peace of the church is 
deeply involved. Mr. James, in his re- 
marks on the election of a pastor, says, " It 
would be well for every church to have a 
standing rule, that no pastor should be 
chosen but by two-thirds, or three-fourths, 
of the members present." The form of 
government of the Presbyterian Church, 
in the United States of America, provides, 
that " when the votes are taken, if it ap- 
pear that a large majority of the^people 
are averse from the candidate who has 
a majority of votes, and cannot be in- 
duced to concur in the call, the presid- 
ing minister shall endeavor to dissuade 
the congregation from prosecuting it 
further." 

The difficulties of election are often in- 
creased by the existence of parties in the 
church, dividing on questions of theology 
or reform. There are old school and new 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 15 

school. There are abolitionists and co- 
lonizationists. There are high church and 
low church. Each party is bent upon se- 
curing such a man as they may deem to 
be of the right stamp. The majority of 
electors often consists of inexperienced 
young men. These may urge their choice 
against the older and more judicious mem- 
bers. Mr. James finds it necessary to give 
the following caution : " Especial defer- 
ence should be paid by the younger and 
inexperienced members of the church to 
the opinions of their senior and more ex- 
perienced brethren. The sentiments of 
the deacons, and those individuals who 
have grown gray in the service of the 
Lord and the church, should be received 
with great attention, and have great weight. 
A youth of seventeen is a very incompe- 
tent judge of ministerial qualifications, 
compared with a venerable father of 
seventy. That haughty spirit which leads 
a young person, or a novice, to say, ' I 
have a vote as well as the oldest and 
richest, and have as much right to be heard 
and consulted as they,' is not the spirit of 



16 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

the gospel, but of turbulence and faction. 
How much more amiable and lovely is 
such a declaration as the following : ' I, 
young and inexperienced, am a very in- 
adequate judge of the suitableness of a 
minister for this situation, and therefore 
should be pretty much guided in my opi- 
nion by the opinion of others, older and 
wiser than myself.' " Page 170. 

Sometimes men of wealth and influence 
set themselves against the wishes of the 
people. Mr. James remarks, that " there 
are in many churches individuals whose 
circumstances must necessarily give pecu- 
liar weight to their opinions." He cautions 
such persons against assuming " the office 
of dictators." He also says : " Democra- 
cies are as liable to the control of a few 
leading individuals, probably more so, than 
any other system ; but then these indivi- 
duals should act, by causing the people to 
act for them." He pronounces an attempt 
to exert their influence, in opposition to 
the wishes of the people, " a most irra- 
tional, unscriptural assumption of power." 
Page 172. 



POLITY OP METHODISM. 17 

These are some of the difficulties in the 
way of a unanimous or satisfactory elec- 
tion. 



CHAPTER II. 

Difficulties subsequent to election — Calls may be re- 
jected — A minister when settled may not suit — A 
church may be able to retain a favorite minister but 
a short time. 

In the preceding chapter a comparison is 
instituted between the manner of supply- 
ing churches with pastors and teachers, 
observed by the M. E. Church, and the 
plan of particular churches electing their 
pastors ; and some of the difficulties which 
stand in the way of a satisfactory election 
are brought into view. 

Let us now suppose the election to have 
taken place with a good degree of har- 
mony. Suppose the choice to be even 
unanimous. A call is made out, and, in 
due form, sent to the person elected. Does 
he come ? He may, or may not. Perhaps 
he has been a candidate, but he cannot 
accept the offered salary, and so rejects the 



18 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

call. Perhaps none of the candidates have 
secured the choice of the electors. An able 
minister is called from some other church, 
but he declines the overture. There may 
be a long succession of these repulses. 
Churches are often obliged to moderate 
greatly their demands in reference to minis- 
terial abilities. But no sooner do they come 
down to a lower grade of qualifications, 
than their unanimity ceases. 

And when a minister has been obtained, 
is it certain that the church will be satis- 
fied ? May not these difficulties very soon 
recur ? Congregations are not unfrequent- 
ly captivated by a few dashing sermons, 
and find out, in a short time after the set- 
tlement, that their new minister is incom- 
petent to the task he has assumed. A 
speedy dismission ensues. In some in- 
stances churches are imposed upon by 
injudicious and interested recommenda- 
tions. Mr. James has the following passage 
on this subject : " Let ministers to whom 
applications are made by a destitute church, 
to recommend them a candidate, beware 
of suffering themselves to mention the 



POLITY OF METHODISM. ]9 

name of any individual, whom, 'in their 

conscientious opinion, they do not think to 
be suitable. To recommend any person 
out of mere pity, because he is destitute 
of a situation; or out of natural affection 
or friendship, because he happens to be a 
relative or acquaintance; without regard to 
his character, general qualifications, or 
suitableness for the situation in question, 
is a most criminal act, and deserves the 
severest reprobation : it is an act of the 
most guilty treachery toward, not an indi- 
vidual, but a community ; not in reference 
to temporal interests, but to spiritual and 
eternal ones. In some cases unsuitable 
recommendations are given from a love 
of patronage ; in others, from an excess of 
good nature : but from whatever cause they 
proceed, the mischief they do is incalcu- 
lable/' Page 16S. 

Whatever may be the causes, certain it 
is, that, in many instances, ministers are 
scarcely settled before the subject of their 
dismission is agitated. 

But let us try a more favorable suppo- 
sition in regard to the capabilities of the 



20 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

new incumbent. The church has suc- 
ceeded in obtaining a young man of very 
superior qualifications ; are they sure of re- 
taining him ? It frequently happens that 
after a church has been destitute for a long 
time, and has gone to great expense of 
pains and money to secure the pastoral 
services of some favorite, he is settled but 
a short time before a call comes from some 
other church. He accepts it ; and while 
there may be joy on the one hand, there 
are mortification and heart-burnings on the 
other. The deserved encomiums which 
were bestowed upon him, for the purpose 
of increasing his popularity and usefulness, 
among those who, it was supposed, would 
be long favored with his ministrations, 
were the means of attracting toward him 
the attention of some richer and more in- 
fluential congregation, and have resulted 
in his removal. 

Large and wealthy city congregations 
have very great advantages over others, on 
the electing plan, as they can call and se- 
cure the ablest men, from all parts of the 
land, and retain them as long as it may 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 21 

seem desirable ; inasmuch as they cannot 
be called away to places offering either a 
better support or wider fields of usefulness. 
The foregoing argument has proceeded 
upon the supposition that the prerogative 
of choosing and settling pastors is in the 
hands of a majority of the whole member- 
ship of the churches respectively. What 
if it should appear, on inquiry, that this is 
not the case ? It must be kept in mind 
that most, if not all, of the churches which 
elect their pastors, exclude females from 
the privilege of voting ; and yet, in many 
cases, this sex constitutes a majority, or 
two-thirds, of the church. It also often 
occurs, that the female portion of the church 
embodies the greater amount of piety, 
intelligence, wealth, and influence ; so 
that the pastor, after all, may be elected 
by the smaller part of the church, and that 
part, it may be, the least competent to 
judge of his qualifications. 



22 POLITY OF METHODISM. 



CHAPTER III. 

Further difficulties — Elections liable to be annulled — 
Authorities. 

Having thus adverted to some of the dif- 
ficulties which embarrass those churches 
which elect their pastors, in relation to 
both choosing and retaining^ I further re- 
mark, that, in New-England Congrega- 
tionalism, there is a power outside of the 
church by which the election of the church 
may be wholly defeated. 

The Rev. E. R. Tyler of New-Haven, 
Connecticut, in a work recently published, 
entitled, " Congregational Catechism," asks 
the question, " In what manner are men 
raised to the office of pastor in Congrega- 
tional churches ?" He answers, " By the 
free election of the brethren, and a solemn 
induction into office." He then goes on 
to describe the process as follows : " The 
brethren of the church, having first fixed 
their eyes upon a candidate for the pastoral 
office over them, and sought the divine 
guidance in a matter of so great import- 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 23 

ance, by fasting and prayer, make the 
election ; and if the ecclesiastical society 
concur in their choice, and the pastor elect 
accepts the appointment, a council of 
neighboring churches is called, by whose 
aid he is ordained, or solemnly inducted 
into office.' ' 

The Rev. Dr. Hawes, of Hartford, Con- 
necticut, in his " Tribute to the Memory 
of the Pilgrims," remarking on the prin- 
ciples of the Congregational churches of 
New-England, says : " There is another 
feature in our ecclesiastical polity which 
I must not pass unnoticed. It relates to 
the manner in which the independence 
and purity of the churches are secured, in 
consistency with the rights and privileges 
of the congregation. These two bodies 
are in some respects united and one, but 
in others are distinct independent cor- 
porations. In the call and settlement of a 
minister, which is the great business they 
have to transact together, each exerts a 
separate and uncontrolled agency. And 
yet the concurrence of each is indispensa- 
ble to the validity of their respective acts. 



24 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

The church has no power to place a min- 
ister over the congregation, nor has the 
congregation any power to place a minister 
over the church. In effecting the settle- 
ment of a pastor, the concurrent voice 
of the church and society is essential." 
Page 58. 

Here, then, is a corporation distinct from 
the church, and capable of exerting a sepa- 
rate agency, without the concurrence of 
which the church cannot elect and settle a 
pastor, no matter if unanimous in its 
choice. The church, we are told, has no 
power to place a pastor over the congre- 
gation, and, of consequence, it has no 
power to place a pastor over itself. If the 
ecclesiastical society cannot place a pastor 
over the church, it can withhold its concur- 
rence, and so compel the church to elect 
whom it chooses, or go without a pastor. 
And this is the boasted u free election of 
the brethren !" And, mark ! this power 
of defeating the church is in the hands of 
irreligious men. They do not belong to 
the church. The members of the church 
and the members of this corporation act 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 25 

separately in this matter. No particular 
moral qualifications are requisite to entitle 
any one to membership in this society, 
except, perhaps, a willingness to support 
public worship. They may make those 
high spiritual qualifications which engage 
the preference of the church, the very rea- 
son for refusing their concurrence. And, 
still further, this society, distinct from the 
church, owns all the church property ; de- 
termines what amount of salary shall be 
offered to the candidate on condition of his 
accepting the call ; and is the party re- 
sponsible in law for the raising and the 
payment of the salary : (see Dr. Baird's 
Religion in America, vol. ii, page 227 :) so 
that the church sustains a very subordinate 
and dependent part in this important 
business. 

It would seem to have been, if it is not 
now, a disputed question among our Con- 
gregational brethren, whether the church 
should have precedence of the society, in 
the election of a pastor, or the society the 
precedence of the church. Professor Up- 
ham, in his Ratio Discipline, argues this 



26 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

point, and thus concludes against allowing 
parishes, or ecclesiastical societies, the pre- 
cedence: " The evil consequences alluded 
to undoubtedly are, the introduction, in a 
short time, of a corrupt ministry ; the sub- 
sequent corruption of the churches ; and, 
in this way, the ultimate ruin of both. That 
such consequences would follow is ob- 
vious, when we remember the depravity 
of the human heart, and when we take into 
the account that multitudes are fond of 
having moral teachers, whose practice at 
least is as wanting in strictness and purity 
as their own." 

But, if it would be so dangerous for the 
society to take the lead in the settlement 
of a pastor, can it be safe for them to have 
the power that is accorded to them ? 

Whatever disadvantages the Methodist 
churches may be subject to, they are not 
liable to having their pastors chosen and 
forced upon them by irreligious men — 
men who are not even church members. 

Nor is this the only restriction to which 
Congregational churches are subject in 
the selection of their pastors. The Rev. 



POLITY Or METHODISM. 27 

Dr. Bacon, of New-Haven, in his Church 
Manual, says, that " a church, after having 
elected its pastor, is ordinarily bound to 
call on the neighboring churches to come 
together, by their pastors and messengers, 
that they may advise and assist in his so- 
lemn inauguration :" when " the council 
thus convened looks into the preliminary 
proceedings, to be informed respecting the 
regularity and harmony of the election, 
and the terms on which the office has been 
offered by the church, and accepted by the 
candidate ;" and " proceeds to examine the 
person set before them as the pastor elect, 
that they may be satisfied respecting his 
knowledge, his ability for the work, and his 
piety/' and " pass, and put on record, their 
solemn judgment respecting his fitness for 
the office to which the church has called 
him ; and, if they find him fit, set him apart 
to the responsibilities and labors of that 
office, by prayer and the laying on of 
hands." We are told that " all this is not 
because a church has not a right to choose 
its officers, or even in particular cases to 
induct them into office; but because a 



28 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

church is bound, by the law of Christian 
love, to ask the advice and aid of sister 
churches in matters of great and common 
interest." He adds : " So in regard to the 
dismission of a pastor from his official re- 
lation to the church. A pastor has a right 
to resign his office, and the church has 
power to accept his resignation ; and the 
parties may declare the relation dissolved, 
and it is dissolved ; without any consulta- 
tion of the neighboring churches at all. 
Nor do we call in question the power of 
the church to do all this, when we say that 
it ought to have called in other churches to 
advise and aid in such a transaction. The 
thing may be done, and done effectually, 
and nothing wanting to its validity, when 
yet it is not done properly, or with de- 
corum. A thing may be done which is 
not done decently and in order ; and a de- 
cent respect for the feelings and interests 
of sister churches, a moderate share of the 
spirit of Christian courtesy, will constrain 
any church, of moderate intelligence, to do 
such a thing decently and in order, by 
calling a council of the sister churches, 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 29 

when the preliminaries have been ar- 
ranged, and saying to them, thus we have 
done, and thus we propose to do, and 
now we ask your judgment and approval." 
Page 138. 

Now although our Congregational bre- 
thren assert, in theory, the right of the 
churches to choose, ordain, and dismiss, 
their pastors ; and that the interference of 
councils is merely advisory ; it is practically 
a serious thing with them not to take ad- 
vice. The churches that decline it, not 
only subject themselves to being considered 
as destitute of a decent respect for the feel- 
ings and interests of sister churches, and 
" a moderate share of intelligence ;' ■ but also 
expose themselves to the disadvantage of 
an exclusion from ecclesiastical fellowship 
with sister churches. And as to the ab- 
stract right to act disorderly and indecently, 
and "to violate the great principle of the 
communion of the churches," what is it 
worth ? Does any ecclesiastical system de- 
serve praise for conceding such a right? 

The Presbyterian Church likewise im- 
poses restraints on the power of particular 



30 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

churches to choose and settle their pastors. 
The constitution requires that, when an 
election has taken place, and a call been 
drawn up in due form, "the call, thus pre- 
pared, shall be presented to the presbytery 
under whose care the person called shall 
be ; that, if the presbytery think it expedient 
to present the call to him, it may be ac- 
cordingly presented: and no minister or 
candidate shall receive a call but through 
the hands of the presbytery." Page 337. 

And if I am not mistaken, the Presby- 
terian mode extends the right of suffrage, 
beyond the members of the church, to those 
who belong merely to the congregation. 
If this is the case, the congregation may 
unite with a minority of the church to call 
an unsuitable minister; or, at least, to de- 
feat the choice of a majority of the church. 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 31 



CHAPTER IV, 

Manner of entering the ministry, and of appointment to 
pastoral charge, in the M. E. Church : in the Congre- 
gational and Presbyterian churches — The difference 
estimated. 

In the foregoing chapter the attention of 
the reader is directed to certain constitu- 
tional restrictions, to which Congregational 
and Presbyterian churches are subject, in 
the election and settlement of pastors. 

It is not difficult to imagine a good rea- 
son for these checks and restraints. Were 
individual ministers and particular church- 
es at liberty to make and dissolve contracts 
for pastoral labor and support, without any 
supervision and interference, there would 
be no security against the wildest specula- 
tion and disorder. A writer in the New- 
England Puritan, a very ably conducted 
paper, published in Boston, by the Con- 
gregation alists, attributes some changes to 
" movements" on the part of churches, 
u having for their object the removal of min- 
isters for slight and insufficient reasons/' 
(See No. for August 19, 1841.) Another 



32 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

writer in the same paper, in a series of el- 
oquent articles on " Ex-pastors," attributes 
changes to " the love of distinction and 
emolument" on the part of ministers, 
prompting them to seek " some more ele- 
vated and lucrative post;" and adds, " The 
dismission of pastors from this cause, with 
various disappointments as to obtaining 
more eligible fields, has unquestionably di- 
minished the popular veneration for the 
ministerial office, and weakened the im- 
pression of the sanctity of the pastoral re- 
lation." (See No. for July 17, 1841.) All 
this occurs notwithstanding the obstacles 
interposed by councils and presbyteries. 

Where then is the great difference be- 
tween the privilege of these churches and 
ours in respect to the choice of pastors ? 
It will not do to say that our churches have 
no voice in the choice of their pastors. 
In the first place, no man can reach the 
pastoral office, in our church, without pass- 
ing several times under the review of the 
laity. He must first be licensed to exhort. 
This cannot be " without the consent of 
the leaders' meeting, or of the class of which 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 33 

he is a member, where no leaders meeting 
is held." Dis.) p. 48. He must then obtain 
license to preach as a local preacher ; but, 
in order to this, he must again be recom- 
mended by the society of which he is a 
member, or by a leaders' meeting. Nor 
is that recommendation sufficient to procure 
him a license. It barely brings him before 
the quarterly meeting conference, which 
consists of laymen, with the exception of 
the presiding elder, and preacher or preach- 
ers of the circuit or station ; so that there 
are generally but two, and rarely more than 
three, ministers present, and one of these 
the presiding officer, who seldom votes on 
any question at issue. Next he must be 
received into the regular itinerancy. But 
this cannot be without the recommendation 
of the quarterly conference. And if, with 
us, particular churches cannot select their 
immediate pastors, nor pastors their church- 
es ; yet the churches may represent their 
peculiar circumstances, and petition for the 
minister by whom they think they would 
be well suited. And, as a general thing, 

those who choose to petition are gratified. 
3 



84 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

That this is not always so, is a matter of 
absolute necessity; as no man can be the 
pastor of more than one circuit or station 
at the same time, and applicants for the 
services of one person may be numerous, 
or, at least, there may be a plurality of 
them. In other instances, the application 
fails from considerations of expediency; 
such, perhaps, as would induce a council 
or a presbytery to refuse their concurrence 
with an election, or a minister to reject the 
call. 

It is evident from these statements, that 
the electing system, as observed by the 
Congregationalists and Presbyterians, has 
very little, if any, advantage over ours in 
reference to the liberty of choosing pastors. 
Indeed the privilege of election, which is 
accorded to their churches, is necessary to 
raise them to a level with ours. For while, 
with us, the pastoral office is reached by 
successive steps, each of which is watched 
over by the laity, and must be sanctioned 
by their formally expressed will ; with them 
the laity is not consulted at all, until the 
question comes up, which of the many 



POLITT OF METHODISM. 35 

ministers, who have been made such in- 
dependently of them, shall be their imme- 
diate pastor. 

A young man determines on the minis- 
try as his vocation. He is supported by 
his parents or his guardians, or by an edu- 
cation society, while he seeks the education 
required. He is then licensed by an asso- 
ciation of ministers, if a Congregationalist, 
or, if a Presbyterian, by the presbytery, 
which consists chiefly of ministers, being 
composed " of all the ministers ; and one 
ruling elder from each congregation, with- 
in a certain district," Con., page 357 ; and 
the particular churches must select their 
pastors from the number of those so in- 
troduced into the ministry. Deny these 
churches the privilege of election, and they 
would be in a pitiably helpless and de- 
graded condition — a condition vastly infe- 
rior to that of our churches. The laity 
with us have spoken four times, before the 
laity with them have spoken once. And 
if our people see proper to do so, they can 
speak a fifth time, but not authoritatively ; 
they can speak by petition. They have 



36 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

raised a class of men to the pastoral office, 
with the understanding that particular 
churches will not elect their immediate pas- 
tors, nor pastors their churches; but that 
ministerial labor will be distributed by a 
distinct, well-defined, and responsible au- 
thority, created for the purpose. 

The advocates of the electing system 
bring into contrast and magnify the extreme 
points of their system and ours, overlook- 
ing all the intervening facts which go to 
equalize them. Because our churches do 
not elect their ministers, they are represent- 
ed as having no voice in the matter — as 
being perfectly passive and powerless. 
Because theirs do elect their ministers, they 
would have us think that their choice is 
wholly unembarrassed, and that they- are 
invariably in possession of the services of 
the man whom they prefer above all others. 
Neither of these representations is correct. 

This then is the result of the foregoing 
investigation : No man can attain to the 
pastoral relation, or even the ministry, in 
our church, without the consent of the lay 
members of particular churches, frequently 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 37 

expressed. But the churches cannot select, 
their immediate pastors ; the pastors are 
appointed to their particular fields of labor 
by the bishops, who have been raised to 
the office of a general superintendence for 
the purpose of a judicious distribution of 
pastoral labor. They may be regarded as 
the embodied wisdom and authority of the 
entire denomination in reference to this 
business. They are responsible for every 
official act. But while the churches can- 
not select their pastors, they may petition 
the appointing power for particular min- 
isters ; and we have only to suppose the 
bishops and their advisors to be as disin- 
terested as councils and presbyteries are, 
to authorize the expectation that the peti- 
tion will be granted whenever it is judged 
expedient. And, in point of fact, it is a 
common thing for petitions to be granted. 
On the other hand, the Congregational 
churches have nothing to say in the pro- 
motion of their members to the ministerial 
office. They are not officially consulted 
either as to the gifts, graces, or orthodoxy, 
of those who apply for admission into the 



38 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

ministry. The Presbyterian churches have 
very little official influence in this import- 
ant transaction. In that denomination 
ministers are made solely by the presbyte- 
ries, which are always likely to comprise a 
majority of ministers, and in which the 
laity are represented only by a ruling elder 
from each particular church. For this pri- 
vation of official influence in authorizing 
men to minister at the altar, they are com- 
pensated by the right of electing their pas- 
tors. But this privilege is subject to vari- 
ous embarrassments ; so that, instead of 
being able to secure in all cases the men 
preferred, they are often, like the Method- 
ists, obliged to put up with the best they 
can obtain. The female portion of the 
church, which often constitutes a large ma- 
jority, including the largest share of intel- 
ligence and piety, is excluded from the 
privilege of voting; thus the election fre- 
quently devolves on a minority of the mem- 
bers. This minority may be far from una- 
nimous, and the prosecution of a call inex- 
pedient, notwithstanding there has been an 
election. Should the electors be unani- 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 39 

mous, their choice may be neutralized in 
various ways — among the Congregation- 
alists by a vote of the ecclesiastical socie- 
ty, and by the council, should the church 
and the ecclesiastical society concur ; and 
among the Presbyterians by a vote of 
the presbytery. Should the church elect- 
ing be sole applicant for the services of the 
minister elect, he may consider the place 
ineligible, or the salary inadequate, and so 
decline the call. Is the call accepted ; the 
election approved ; the pastor installed; the 
church delighted by his zeal, learning, and 
eloquence ? He may receive and accept 
another call in the course of a few months, 
procure a dismission, and leave his recent 
flock as destitute as he found them. And, 
besides all this, should the minister become 
wholly unpopular with the church and con- 
gregation, he may legally retain his place 
for many weary and profitless years. I 
have no doubt that there are twenty church- 
es, among those which observe the elect- 
ing system, dissatisfied with their ministers, 
to one in our denomination. 



40 POLITY OF METHODISM. 



CHAPTER V. 

Superiority of Methodism — Pastors obtained without 
loss of time. 

I now proceed to show that, in many re- 
spects, our system of distributing ministe- 
rial labor is manifestly and vastly superior 
to that with which it is compared. 

In the first place, it supplies our churches 
with pastors so promptly as to prevent the 
long seasons of destitution to which those 
are liable w T hich elect their pastors. It is 
not uncommon for churches, on the latter 
system, to be for many months, and even 
years, without a pastor, through the diffi- 
culty of electing one, or of effecting a set- 
tlement. Should there be no more delay 
than is inevitably incident to the workings 
of the system, still the duration of the 
vacancy must be considerable. Mr. James 
observes : " Great care should be taken, by 
those to whom the church has delegated 
the power of procuring candidates, not to 
invite upon probation any individual of 
whose suitableness they have not receiv- 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 41 

ed previous and satisfactory testimony" 
Page 169. And when, after cautious in- 
quiry, a candidate has been invited, " great 
caution ought to be exercised in forming 
a judgment upon the suitableness of an 
individual. That a proper opportunity 
might be afforded to the church for coming 
to this opinion, the probationary term of 
a candidate should not be too short* 
Preaching is not the only thing to be 
judged of; piety, prudence, diligence, 
general deportment, are all to be taken 
into the account : and for a trial in all 
these points, a period of three months can- 
not be thought too long/' Page 170. The 
Rev. Mr. Punchard, author of the work in 
favor of Congregationalism, published in 
the year 1844, complains that the "churches 
are not all as particular upon this point as 
they ought to be ; certainly far less than 
our fathers were. It was once thought 
necessary for a candidate for settlement to 
spend months among the people of his pro- 
spective charge ; but now some churches 
are satisfied with an acquaintance of a few 
days only, and some are ready to call a 



42 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

pastor without having had any personal 
acquaintance with him." He adds : " This 
undoubtedly is one reason why there is 
now so little permanency in the pastoral 
relation. Are we not verifying the maxim, 
\ To innovate is not to improve ?' " P. 164. 
This is evidently sound doctrine. Less 
caution than is here prescribed, would 
be reckless haste when a minister is to be 
chosen from among many, and settled for 
life, or for a long or an indefinite period, 
by a vote of the members of the church, or 
of the church and congregation. Now we 
have only to suppose — what is indeed a very 
common case- — that a succession of candi- 
dates should be unsuccessful, and the re- 
sult is a long interruption of the pastoral 
succession. During this time the churches 
may have the gospel preached to them by 
the candidates ; but these do not sustain 
the pastoral relation, and of course there 
are many important pastoral duties which 
they cannot perform. Think also of the 
circumstances under which they preach 
and the people hear. The one tempted to 
seek the gratification of his hearers rather 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 43 

than their profit ; the others, criticizing 
and estimating the performance of the 
preacher, rather than receiving with meek- 
ness the ingrafted word. With us no 
time is lost. The church is immediately 
supplied in case of the death of a pastor. 
And changes are so effected that the very- 
hour which removes a pastor supplies his 
place with another, who enters at once 
upon the labors of his predecessors, to 
govern, and be governed, by precisely the 
same rules, and to observe the same pre- 
established usages. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Our system avoids dangerous excitements — Liabilities 
of the opposite plan. 

Our system avoids the unhallowed excite- 
ments and pernicious agitations to which 
those churches are liable which elect their 
pastors. Mr. James makes the following 
significant remarks : " When a Christian 
minister is removed, either to his eternal 
rest or to some other sphere of labor in 



44 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

the present world, the choice of a successor 
always brings on a crisis in the history of 
the church of which he was the pastor. 
No event that could happen can place the 
interest of the society in greater peril. 
Distraction and division have so frequently 
resulted from this circumstance, so many 
churches have been rent by it, that an ar- 
gument has been founded upon it, if not 
against the right of popular election to the 
pastoral office, yet against the expediency 
of using it. It must be admitted that, on 
these occasions, our principles as Inde- 
pendents, and our practice as Christians, 
have not unfrequently been brought into 
disrepute. We have been accused of 
wrangling about a teacher of religion till 
we have lost all our religion in the affray ; 
and the state of many congregations proves 
that the charge is not altogether without 
foundation." Page 165. 

As might be expected, Mr. James thinks 
that these things form no solid objection 
against his system ; but it cannot be denied 
that he unveils a startling scene. 

He gives directions for the conduct of 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 45 

church members, during the progress of the 
election, which opens to our view the 
workings of the plan : " Let all the mem- 
bers, as soon as their pastor is removed or 
dead, seriously reflect on the crisis into 
which the church is brought, the great im- 
portance of preserving its peace, and the 
influence which individual conduct may 
have upon the future prosperity of the 
society. Let them deliberately reflect thus : 
i The church is now coming into circum- 
stances of peril, and I, as an individual, 
may be accessory, according as my con- 
duct shall be, to its injury or prosperity. 
God forbid our harmony should be dis- 
turbed, or our Zion become otherwise than 
a quiet habitation. So far as depends 
upon myself, I will sacrifice everything but 
principle, rather than have those scenes 
of division and distraction among us which 
are common in the religious world.' " Page 
166. 

What principle it is that Mr. James 
would not have sacrificed, to avoid " those 
scenes of division and distraction," we are 
not informed. Certain it is he comes very 



46 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

near recommending a surrender of the 
right of choice. " It would be very ad- 
visable," he says, " in some cases, for even 
so large a majority as two-thirds, or even 
three-fourths, to give up the point, rather 
than carry it in opposition to a minority 
which includes in it the deacons and many 
of the most experienced and respectable 
members of society. The majority in such 
instances have the right to decide ; but it 
is a question whether they ought not, for 
the sake of peace, to waive the exercise of 
it." Page 172. And the young are cau- 
tioned, in a style which partakes largely 
of the dictatorial, against the assertion of 
their rights. 

He cautions against " secret canvassing, 
and attempts to influence the minds of 
others ;" enforcing the caution by the fol- 
lowing very expressive terms : " To see the 
mean and petty arts of a contested election 
carried into the church of God is dreadful." 
He gives as a reason for a certain rule, 
that it " would preclude much of that cabal 
and intrigue which are sometimes employ- 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 47 

ed when the matter is carried on by a mere 
majority." Page 171. 

Nor does the agitation cease when the 
minister has been elected by an ample 
majority. It is necessary that the majority 
" should exercise peculiar forbearance 
and affection toward those who are op- 
posed to them, carefully avoiding to impute 
their objections to any improper motives ; 
listening to their statements with patience ; 
treating them with candor ; reasoning with 
them in the spirit of love ; and giving them 
time to have their difficulties removed. 
The happiest results have often been the 
issue of such kind and Christian conduct. 
If, however, instead of this, the dissentients 
are treated with harshness and intolerance ; 
if their opposition be attributed to a factious 
and caviling temper ; if they are regarded 
with contempt, as a despicable minority, 
of which no notice should be taken, and 
are left immediately to themselves, without 
any conciliatory measures being taken, 
while the majority proceeds immediately 
to decide ; a schism is sure to take place, 



48 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

as mischievous to the church as it is dis- 
graceful to religion." Page 171. 

His instructions to the minority are quite 
ominous : " When a minister is at length 
brought in by a large majority, it then be- 
comes a question, What ought to be the 
conduct of the minority? Should they 
separate and form another religious so- 
ciety ? Certainly not, except as a dernier 
resort. Let them consider the evils con- 
nected with such a state of things. What 
ill will is often produced between the two 
societies ; how much antichristian feeling 
is excited ; how it injures the spirit of both 
parties; what envies, and jealousies, and 
evil speakings, commence and continue, to 
the injury of religion and the triumph of its 
enemies!" Page 173. 

He admits, that " in some cases a divi- 
sion is necessary" and exhorts, that where 
" it is unavoidable, great efforts should be 
made to effect it in love" 

He thus refers to prevalent evils and 
their remedy : " We carry into the sanctu- 
ary and into the church our pride, our 
self-will, our personal taste. That spirit 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 49 

of mutual submission, brotherly love, and 
surrender of our own gratification to the 
good of others, which the word of God 
enjoins, and our profession avows, would 
keep the church always happy and har- 
monious, and enable it to pass in safety 
through the most critical circumstances in 
which it can be placed. Instead of seek- 
ing the good of the whole, the feeling of 
too many of our members may be thus 
summarily expressed, ' I will have my 
way.' " Page 174. 

Now these are evils which our system 
avoids. And the spirit which this able and 
amiable author recommends as their re- 
medy — the spirit of mutual submission ; 
the surrender of our own gratification to 
the good of others, preferring the greatest 
good to the gratification of a part — this is 
the very basis of our itinerancy. Ministers 
and churches agree to waive particular and 
personal advantages in order to accom- 
plish more extensively and effectively the 
great ends for which the church and its 
ministry were ordained. 
4 



50 POLITY OF METHODISM. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Frequent changes not peculiar to Methodism — Advan- 
tages of the itinerant system in respect to change — 
How to effect the removal of an unacceptable min- 
ister. 

While the frequency of change is made 

an objection to our itinerant plan, it is 

found impossible to avoid it by any other. 

The extent to which it affects those 

churches which boast a settled ministry 

is feelingly deplored by recent writers. 

Mr. Punchard remarks : " The unsettled 

state of everything connected with the 

pastoral office, for a few years past, has, 

undoubtedly, introduced irregularities into 

the practice of our denomination upon this 

point, as well as upon many others. In 

most cases the pastoral connection is now 

formed with the understanding that it 

will be short-lived. A stipulation is often 

made that the connection may be dissolved 

by either party — the church or the pastor 

— giving the other three months' notice. 

In other cases a settlement is made for a 

stipulated number of years — -five being a 



FOLITT OF METHODISM. 51 

favorite number. The system of rotation 
has been pretty thoroughly introduced into 
the pastoral office. Our pastors have be- 
come traveling preachers, circuit riders.'' 
Page 270. The writer on " Ex-pastors " 
remarks: " However it may be explained, 
the fact is most manifest, that the pastoral 
relation has, within a recent period, been 
exceedingly and extensively weakened." 
He contrasts the present with former times, 
when ministers were " settled for life/' and 
adds : " Fluctuation and revolution, settle- 
ments and dismissions, in rapid succession, 
within a few years, have become the order 
of the day." — N. E. Puritan, June 12th, 
1841. If we add to the frequent changes 
of pastors the almost innumerable changes 
of candidates and stated supplies, there 
will be a pretty fair presumption that, on 
the whole, changes take place as frequently 
with them as with us. 

Now we regard it as a leading excel- 
lence of our system that it so provides for 
change, that it takes place regularly and 
without discord. Change is a part of our 
plan, and not an interruption of it. Other 



52 ^POLITY OF METHODISM. 

systems contemplate a permanent union 
between particular churches and pastors, 
and the necessity for change is a disastrous 
contingency for which they must provide 
as well as they can. 

With those churches that observe the 
elective system, it is, in many instances, 
nearly as difficult to get rid of a minister 
that is not acceptable as to secure one that 
is. Sometimes the unfortunate pastor 
takes a hint that a change is desired, and 
vacates his office without any further warn- 
ing. Sometimes a mere suspicion on his 
part is sufficient to dislodge him. He is 
too sensitive. Sometimes direct proposals 
are waited for, and yielded to at once. 
However, it is not always convenient thus 
to fall in with the expressed wishes of the 
church. Great sacrifices are often involved 
in a removal. The minister is not willing 
to make them, and so holds his people to 
the contract. And now the system begins 
to develop new beauties. In some cases, 
when the pastor has been settled for life, 
according to the prevailing custom in those 
halcyon days, the departure of which is so 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 53 

affectingly lamented by a writer in the 
New-England Puritan, the church buys 
off the incumbent from the pastoral rela- 
tion, and the right to the pulpit, by what 
is deemed an adequate compensation. 

The following, according to Mr. Pun- 
chard, is the order of Congregationalism 
in relation to dismission : " If a church 
should think the removal of a pastor de- 
sirable, a regular procedure would be, for 
the deacons, or some of the older members 
of the church, to converse freely and frankly 
w T ith him, state their convictions, and sug- 
gest to him the expediency of asking a 
dismission from the church. If the pastor 
should decline so to do, they might then 
desire him to call a meeting of the church 
for the purpose of conferring together, and 
acting, should it be judged expedient, in 
reference to the matter. The pastor would, 
of course, absent himself from such a meet- 
ing, unless he had some special communi- 
cation to make to the church ; or he would 
retire after having opened it in the usual 
form, and stated the object of the meeting. 
The church being thus left by themselves, 



54 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

would proceed to discuss the subject be- 
fore them ; if agreed in opinion, they 
would appoint a committee to lay before 
the pastor their reasons for wishing a dis- 
solution of the pastoral connection, and 
request him to unite with them in calling 
a council to consider the matter, and ad- 
vise in the premises. Should he decline 
their offer of a mutual council, the church 
would then be entitled to the advice of an 
ex parte council. The way would thus be 
prepared for an orderly adjustment of the 
business upon Christian and Congrega- 
tional principles." Page 176. 

This must needs be a very painful busi- 
ness for both the minister and the people, 
let the proceedings be ever so regular. But 
the process does not always relieve the 
church of the incumbent. The council 
may advise contrary to the wishes of the 
former, and the minister may avail himself 
of the advice of the council. Hence 
churches, finding legitimate measures both 
tardy and often unavailing, frequently re- 
sort to those which are more prompt and 
effective in their operation. Mr. Punchard 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 55 

observes, in a note : " I regret to say that 
our churches are not always so observant 
of the course pointed out in the text as 
they should be." Page 177. 

One method of effecting the removal of 
a minister, is, to make the impression, by 
slanderous accusations and insinuations, 
that his usefulness is at an end, and so 
produce universal dissatisfaction : and, 
by the same means, with the addition of 
manifest personal neglect, and often per- 
sonal insult, to make his condition so 
uncomfortable, that he is glad to conform 
to their wishes, in order to escape from 
intolerable suffering. The Congregational 
Observer, for July 10th, 1841, a paper pub- 
lished in Connecticut for some years, but 
recently discontinued, contains " A Recipe 

FOR DRIVING AWAY A FAITHFUL MlMSTER." 

I copy it for the benefit of all concerned : — 
" Begin the quarrel with great boldness 
and great violence ; set afloat a multiude 
of stories, no matter how false or absurd, 
or how easily disproved. If they should 
be in fact disproved, be careful to repeat 
them, and keep them moving briskly, and 



$6 POLITY OP METHODISM. 

make a handsome addition to them. As- 
sume the fact that the very existence of 
such a state of things proves that the min- 
ister's usefulness is gone. Profess a strong 
regard for the peace of the parish, and, at 
the same time, influence the passions of 
angry malice and envy by every species 
of falsehood, and every vulgar artifice 
which ingenuity can devise. Seek occa- 
sion to converse on the parish difficulties, 
and a moderate share of cunning will ena- 
ble you to accuse him openly and publicly 
of falsehood. By this time a great number 
of persons scattered through the vicinity 
will begin to say, ' The man must have 
been imprudent^ he must have given some 
occasion^ or these stories could not exist. 
His usefulness is gone ; and the sooner be 
leaves the people the better.'- — Review of 
the Dorchester Controversy" 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 57 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The starvation plan — Cautionary measures recommend- 
ed — Adverse consequences of changes — Alienation 
of brethren — Division. 

Another of the disgraceful measures 
sometimes resorted to by those churches 
that elect their pastors, for the purpose of 
displacing an unacceptable incumbent, 
may be called the starvation plan. 

Mr. Punchard, referring to it, observes : 
" Neither Congregationalism, nor any other 
ism but barbarism, countenances the prac- 
tice of starving or driving a minister from 
his pastoral charge." Page 177. This may 
be true ; but the unsatisfactory provision 
for effecting changes, which characterizes 
the electing system, results in the applica- 
tion of this measure in innumerable in- 
stances. A writer in the New-England 
Puritan, for August 19th, 1841, over the 
signature of R. C, gives us a little insight 
into the operation of this device : " As a 
result of these causes, a small minority in 
a parish, by closely watching the conduct 



58 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

and preaching of a minister, and carefully 
husbanding their stock of real or imaginary 
grievances, and making the most of them 
at the next annual meeting, and then re- 
fusing to subscribe anything for the next 
year's salary, and inducing others to do 
the same; in this way a very few indi- 
viduals may so embarrass a large parish 
as to make it necessary to dismiss an able 
and faithful minister." And there is rea- 
son for believing that, when the starving 
regimen is adopted, those who do subscribe 
are not always scrupulously honorable in 
the payment of their subscriptions. 

Those difficulties may be diminished, 
perhaps, where the pastor is hired for a 
year, or where it is stipulated that the con- 
nection shall be dissolved on either of the 
parties giving three months' notice ; but 
this is obviously an innovation upon the 
plan of a settled ministry. The writer just 
quoted pronounces it a " wretched policy 5 ' 
— " creating the impression that the en- 
gagement, with a settled pastor even, was 
only a contract to be renewed or annulled, 
at the pleasure of the parish, at the end of 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 59 

the year." And neither of these arrange- 
ments avoids the difficulties named. * The 
same writer, referring to the case of a min- 
ister who had been dismissed a little more 
than a year after his settlement, states that 
"the council were informed that the pastor 
had been settled but two or three months, 
when the disaffected began freely to dis- 
cuss the question, whether he should be 
employed another year ? and in this way, 
and by the influence used to withhold 
subscriptions to the salary, the dismission 
was effected."' He recommends that, in 
order to prevent the evils deplored, the 
minister shall take the precaution " to se- 
cure, by a written and formal contract, his 
rights, the condition of the mutual union, 
and the manner alone in which it can be 
dissolved; then," he adds, "the business of 
a parish meeting is not to listen to slander 
and abuse of the pastor, or to discuss the 
question whether they shall longer employ 
him, but merely to choose officers, and take 
the necessary steps for raising the salary." 
Now this may be the true policy in con- 
nection with this system, but let it be kept 



80 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

in mind that it proposes to prevent the 
evils complained of by restricting the 
boasted freedom of the churches in choos- 
ing their pastors. Having chosen one, 
he is to be fastened upon them, whether 
they are suited or disappointed. They 
must take him " for better, for worse." 
When they come together in their parish 
meetings, it is to be no part of their busi- 
ness to discuss the question whether they 
shall longer employ him. That question 
is no longer open. All they have to do is 
to choose officers and take the necessary 
steps for raising the salary. And, to pre- 
vent the application of the starving prin- 
ciple, he recommends the laying aside of 
the " wretched custom of subscribing an- 
nually, instead of taxing, for the support of 
the ministry." 

Besides all this, the dismission of a 
minister frequently lays the ground of 
alienation of feeling among the members 
of the church, and sometimes results in a 
division. He has a party which regards 
him as an injured man, and is prepared to 
vindicate him by the strongest measures. 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 61 

If his friends remain in the church from 
which he is dismissed, they hear with dis- 
relish any praise which may be awarded 
to the new pastor as an implied reflection 
on his predecessor, and watch for oppor- 
tunities to effect his removal. If they leave 
the church, and organize another for the 
benefit of their favorite, they will probably 
embarrass themselves by erecting an edi- 
fice too large and expensive for their limited 
resources, and, after a brief and desperate 
struggle, conclude that they must abandon 
the enterprise of sustaining a new church, 
or dismiss the minister for whom they have 
incurred their harassing responsibilities, 
and procure, if possible, the services of one 
who can bring to their aid the influence 
of novelty and popularity. 



62 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Keputation of the ministry injured — Temporal embar- 
rassments resulting — Personal degradation submitted 
to. 

Removals upon the plan referred to in 
the preceding chapter are found to ope- 
rate unfavorably upon the character of 
the ministry. If the minister seek a dis- 
mission merely for the sake of being more 
useful, he is liable to be regarded as un- 
stable and capricious. If his object be to 
escape difficulties which threaten to destroy 
his peace, he is deficient in courage or for- 
titude. If he remove to a more wealthy 
congregation, he is suspected of mercenary 
motives. If he be dismissed at the instance 
of the church, he must encounter suspi- 
cions of some important ministerial dis- 
qualification. The essayist, in the Puritan, 
for August 19th, 1841, on Ex-pastors, 
states, that " the fact of dismission of itself 
tends to extend distrust and prejudice. 
Hence explanations vindicating them from 
injurious suspicions become necessary ; 
and they are constrained, in seeking intro- 



POLITY OF 3IETH0DISM. 63 

ductions to places for employment, to re- 
hearse again and again the material facts 
of their antecedent ministry." 

Another difficulty which embarrasses re- 
movals on the plan we are discussing is, 
the peculiar inconveniences to which the 
minister may be put in reference to his 
temporal interests and his feelings. Per- 
haps he is a young man who, having waited 
a reasonable time, and entered upon his 
ministerial career, has united himself, by 
matrimonial obligations, to the object of 
his highest earthly attachments. The salary 
allowed him is barely enough, or perhaps 
insufficient, to support him in the style in 
which he is expected to live, and to furnish 
him with the requisite appliances for the 
effective prosecution of his ministry. He 
must go in debt to furnish his house, with 
the hope that a few years of economy will 
enable him to discharge his obligations. 
But in less than two years, perhaps in less 
than one, he is dismissed. He is without 
resources, unless he has been so fortunate 
as to have married the daughter of some 
person in good circumstances, and so can 



64 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

quarter his family upon his father-in-law. 
He must now look out for another place. 
But I will allow one who is evidently fa- 
miliar with the subject to depict the trials 
which often ensue. Let me again intro- 
duce the writer on Ex-pastors : " With the 
termination of his pastoral relation his 
salary has ceased, and, as a general fact, 
the loss of means of support brings him 
into a straitened pecuniary condition. He 
may be possessed of property, afford- 
ing him a resource adequate to sustain 
him and his family without the avails of 
ministerial labor. This, however, must 
be only the exception to the ordinary rule. 
If, when becoming a pastor, he was in debt 
for his education ; and then, in procuring a 
situation for residence among the people 
of his charge, another debt was contracted ; 
how, without ministerial employment, and 
without an income from it, he shall pro- 
care even his bread, without inquiring how 
he shall educate his children, becomes a 
problem of no easy solution. With a 
burdened heart he is constrained to in* 
quire, < Lord, what wilt thou have me to 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 65 

do V Repulsed, disappointed in his efforts 
to obtain a location for ministerial labor, 
and with only scanty pecuniary resources, 
the inquiry is forced upon him, ' Is it my 
duty to leave the ministry, and resort to 
some other method of earning a support?' 
But he has consecrated himself, and has 
been officially consecrated by the laying 
on of the hands of the presbytery, to this 
one work. He loves it, and desires it, and 
shrinks from the proposal to turn aside to 
any secular occupation. It seems a vio- 
lation of the vows of ordination, and may 
argue a want of faith, of self-denial, and 
fortitude, and peradventure may bring 
blame or suspicion upon the holy office. 
Will his glorious Master — when uncon- 
verted sinners are dying and going to 
judgment in untold numbers — will he re- 
fuse him bread, if he will but abide by his 
profession, and go forth to his work ? To 
be a teacher of youth, if he leave the pulpit 
for the school room ; to be a writer for the 
press, if he leave the sacred function for 
authorship ; to be a commissioned agent 
for some public charity, if he leave the 
5 



66 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

stated preaching of the word for such an 
occasional service ; is not, in the proper 
sense, giving himself to the ministry and 
fulfilling it, and is not occupying the 
sphere of labor entered upon at his ordina- 
tion. His habits are not formed for any 
proposed occupation foreign from that of 
a pastor. How long, then, shall he proffer 
his services, and seek out opportunities for 
obtaining a field of pastoral labor, and 
when ought he to resort to other employ- 
ment? Here are trials of heart and of 
conscience — here are conflicting doubts 
and fears — here are struggles in the bosom 
of the husband and father, when he thinks 
of his wife and children, and where and 
how they shall be sheltered, and clothed, 
and fed, constituting one part of the expe- 
rience of ex-pastors. Shall one in these 
circumstances continue to present himself 
to the public notice, by correspondence, 
and by engaging the kind offices of his 
ministerial brethren, to introduce and re- 
commend him to places destitute of pas- 
tors, and that, too, when he finds these 
brethren burdened almost beyond endu- 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 67 

ranee by the multitude of such applicants, 
and vacant churches are brought to their 
wits' end to determine which of the nu- 
merous suitors to select ? He finds can- 
didating itinerancy puts the courteousness 
and hospitality of his pastoral brethren to 
a severe test, and brings him into painful 
collision with other candidating brethren, 
who have antecedently offered, or are at 
the same time offering, their services. A 
bold, unblushing spirit, might feel little the 
embarrassment of such circumstances ; but 
ordinary modesty, meekness, and polite- 
ness, find all their resources put in requi- 
sition. But he is losing time, and spend- 
ing the small funds which he can command, 
by lengthened experimenting of this kind, 
and necessity will compel him to stop, 
unless he is willing to cast himself and his 
family as paupers upon the community. 
And when this necessity seems fully to 
come upon him, it is with an aching heart 
that he is compelled to leave the ministry 
of the word for some secular occupation ; 
and if he is found by a zealous ministerial 
brother at the plough, or behind the counter, 



68 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

he must answer the interrogatory, ' What 
dost thou here, Elijah?' Have you any 
adequate reason to assign for declining to 
cast yourself still upon the churches for 
ministerial employment ?" 

To the suggestion that these persons 
may go to the west, where there is a de- 
mand for ministers, the essayist replies : 
" Ministers dismissed from enfeebled 
churches, though ardently loving their 
work, cannot always go to the distant 
west and plant themselves where they 
please as ministers, and pursue their ap- 
propriate work, just as the purchaser of a 
farm covered with dense forests takes his 
ax and fells the stately trees around him, 
and rears his log house. They have not 
the funds, peradventure, to engage in such 
an enterprise, or the state of their families 
forbids the exposure of penetrating the 
wilderness. With none dependent upon 
them they might do otherwise, and fall in 
with the tide of immigration, and seek them 
a place, and adopt the expedients of western 
adventurers to sustain themselves, while 
striving to plant the gospel in the wilder- 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 69 

ness. God forbid that the writer, after he 
had himself witnessed the condition of 
some churches in a few of the western 
settlements, and labored and sympathized 
with them, should stop one of his brethren 
who is qualified and disposed to go forth 
to the great and good work. But many 
unsettled ministers, who might efficiently 
and usefully labor for years as pastors in 
the older states, cannot encounter, after the 
vigor of their days has passed away, the 
hazards and difficulties of transferring 
themselves to the great western valley, 
without high presumption, and great in- 
justice and cruelty to their households. 
Consequently, without opportunities for 
resuming pastoral labor in the New-Eng- 
land and older states, they are necessarily 
precluded from their work." 

Again : " How many, after solicitously 
and honestly endeavoring to find where 
they might be again stationed, and statedly 
labor in the ministry, have been defeated, 
and forced, with aching hearts, to cast 
about for some other means and expedients 
to save themselves and families from 



70 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

pinching penury, the writer will not under- 
take to state. He is satisfied it is not 
small; and without a change in the modes 
of thinking and acting, prevalent within a 
few years past in regard to the relation of 
pastors to their people, it must be in- 
creased." 

These difficulties are not to be set down 
to ministerial incompetency. They arise 
from the demand for a popular ministry 
which the electing system naturally creates, 
and which is stimulated by the contiguity 
of rival churches of other denominations, 
or of the same denomination. The writer 
just quoted attributes them, in part, to 
" the demand for a peculiar style of preach- 
ing, winning fame by its brilliancy, or 
startling by its extravagant characteris- 
tics." 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 71 



CHAPTER X. 

Same subject continued. 

By our plan we are spared the painful and 
humiliating task of exploring the country 
as candidates for pastorships. This point 
deserves a separate and protracted con- 
sideration. The long quotations, in the 
chapter immediately preceding, make de- 
velopments to which we may profitably 
recur. The minister destitute of a church 
must " present himself to public notice by 
correspondence, and by engaging the kind 
offices of his ministerial brethren, to intro- 
duce and recommend him to places desti- 
tute of pastors, and that too when he finds 
these brethren burdened almost beyond 
endurance by the multitude of such appli- 
cants, and vacant churches are brought to 
their wits' end to determine which of the 
numerous suitors to select." This is de- 
grading enough, and yet it is but the be- 
ginning of degradation. 

He finds that u candidating itinerancy 
puts the courteousness and hospitality of 



72 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

his pastoral brethren to a severe test, and 
brings him into painful collision with other 
candidating brethren, who have anteced- 
ently offered, or are at the same time 
offering, their services/' Worse, and still 
worse ! " A bold and unblushing spirit 
might feel little the embarrassment of 
such circumstances, but ordinary modesty, 
meekness, and politeness, find all their re- 
sources put in requisition." No doubt 
of thati Poor modesty, meekness, and 
politeness ! ! " But he is losing time, and 
spending the small funds which he can 
command, by lengthened experimenting 
of this kind." 

I appeal to the reader to say if this 
is not a melancholy representation ? And 
if the candidate should succeed so far 
as to be received on probation, he may 
be notified, at the expiration of three 
or six months, after he has been watch- 
ed, and scrutinized, and his merits and 
defects discussed in every company and 
place of resort, and has passed through 
the most harassing solicitude, that his 
services are not acceptable. He then goes 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 73 

with a crushed spirit to another place, it 
may be to pass through a similar ordeal 
with similar success. And yet he may be 
called of God to the work of the ministry, 
and may possess qualifications for eminent 
usefulness, if he only were in the right 
place, and could be received with cordi- 
ality, and sustained with confidence for 
one or two years at a time. Should he 
make up his mind to encounter no longer 
the mortification incident to "candidating," 
he is liable to be reproached with a want 
of perseverance, or with a slight attachment 
to the sacred office, and, perhaps, with a 
criminal forgetfulness of the vows of his 
consecration. Highly talented and distin- 
guished men may not be under the neces- 
sity of thus going about. Their services 
may be sought eagerly after. But this will 
be their peculiar privilege. Now this pri- 
vilege, so far as exemption from " can- 
didating" is concerned, belongs to every 
itinerant Methodist minister, however hum- 
ble. He does not expect to escape diffi- 
culties. He knows that he must labor hard, 
receiving but little recompense on earth. 



74 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

But then he is not subject to such hardships 
and degradation as have just been de- 
scribed. Itinerancy subjects him to many 
serious inconveniences ; but, thank God, 
he knows nothing of " candidating itine- 
rancy." I have heard of ministers, who, 
reposing in assured dignity upon their 
talents and acquisitions, have refused to 
come down so far as to preach trial ser- 
mons before the churches desiring their 
services, notwithstanding their system sanc- 
tions, and even requires, the practice. This 
is high ground — and yet every Methodist 
preacher may occupy it. If one among us 
is suspected of seeking the preference of a 
circuit or station, with a view to their so- 
liciting his services, he is looked upon as 
having compromised the dignity of his 
office. 

It might be apprehended, with some de- 
gree of plausibility, that the degradation 
of the individual minister would result, to 
some extent, in the degradation of the min- 
isterial office. A writer in a recent num- 
ber of the American Biblical Repository, 
Professor I. M. Sturtevant, of Illinois Col- 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 75 

lege, Jacksonville, Illinois, in an article on 
" The Education of Indigent Young Men for 
the Ministry" speaking of such as find 
their services unacceptable, says : " But they 
do not suffer alone. The community suf- 
fers with them. The ministry goes beg- 
ging, and suffers degradation in the popular 
esteem." Again, he inquires : " Is not the 
number of candidates for any vacant place, 
and their zeal to obtain it, such as to make 
the impression that the ministry is filled 
with mere place-seekers, hanging on the 
church for a living?" 

Now, in all that I have written upon this 
subject, I have not designed the least re- 
flection upon the piety and intelligence of 
our brethren of other denominations. This 
investigation has attached me more closely 
to them in affection and sympathy. I can- 
not overlook that many of them are far 
more favorably situated, so far as temporal 
advantages are concerned, than any Me- 
thodist preachers can hope to be. But this 
is not the case with all. We have no 
monopoly of ministerial privations and 
sacrifices, and are not entitled to a mo- 



76 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

nopoly of the church's sympathy. I see 
that the Christian ministry, viewed in the 
aggregate, must have its many and sore 
trials, and that no plan of dividing its labor 
and its support can protect the ministry 
of any denomination from its share in 
these trials. 



CHAPTER XL 

Superiority of Methodism further illustrated — Provides 
for a more effective employment of ministerial talent 
— Auspicious influence upon young men — Ketains 
old men longer in effective service. 

Now our system presents a cheering con- 
trast to the other, not only in reference to 
" candidating," but in many other respects. 
In its operations, removals cause no such 
demoralizing and disastrous agitations. 
They imply no deficiency on the part of 
the minister, or delinquency on the part 
of members. He retains their affections ; 
and when the time for his transfer comes, 
they send him away with good wishes, 
and with fervent prayers that his labors 
may be blessed in his new field. And 



POLITY OF METHODISM. /7 

when his successor comes, no one regards 
him with suspicion as the supplanter of 
an injured favorite. He is looked upon as 
sent of God, and hailed with joyous in- 
terest. Nor is the minister who leaves 
thrown upon the wide world, without a 
people over whom he may watch, and by 
whom he may be supported. The very 
act which dissolves his pastoral relation to 
one church, places him in the same relation 
to another. Thus he is never without a 
church, and such a support as they may 
be able or willing to give him, so long as 
he is able to perform efficient pastoral la- 
bor. With us, churches are never with- 
out pastors, and pastors never without 
churches. 

Methodism employs to the best possi- 
ble advantage those ministers who possess 
moderate talents and acquisitions. More 
than ordinary ability is necessary for a 
minister to sustain himself in acceptability 
and usefulness for many years, in the 
same place. There are hundreds of men 
among us, eminently useful, who would 
very soon be obliged to retire from the 



78 POLITY OP METHODISM. 

work, were we to adopt the plan of a set- 
tled ministry. In saying this I do not 
design to disparage, and do not, in fact, 
disparage, our ministry, in comparison with 
that of other denominations ; for there are 
among them, at this day, hundreds without 
employment, not because they have not 
qualifications for usefulness — they have 
advantages over most of us, in respect to 
literary training — but because they are un- 
able to meet the demands of the age upon 
a settled ministry. They cannot sustain 
longer than one or two years the compe- 
tition they are destined to meet with. A 
Methodist "circuit rider," so called in de- 
rision, shall be sent to the place where one 
of them is settled, much inferior to him in 
education, but who, having the advantage 
of freshness and novelty, shall excite an 
interest which he is no longer able to ex- 
cite. His people become mortified and 
discontented. They expect of him, not 
only that he will keep pace with the Me- 
thodist preacher, but that, by leaving him 
far behind, he will obviously illustrate the 
often alledged superiority of a classically 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 79 

educated minister, over any one not so 
qualified. The result is his dismission. 
A very few dismissions render his pros- 
pect of a resettlement eminently precarious. 
He goes down ; while in consequence of 
timely change, the energetic Methodist 
preacher rises continually in public esti- 
mation. 

I regard it as by no means a light con- 
sideration that we are thus enabled to avail 
ourselves more fully of deep piety for 
ministerial purposes, and are less depend- 
ent upon men who have little or nothing 
else to recommend them to the ministry 
than learning and splendid talents. If 
learned men, endowed with deep humility, 
choose to come among us, and share with 
us in our labors and privations, we wel- 
come them, we esteem them, we reverence 
them. Many such we have in our con- 
nection. But if they cannot stoop to the 
plans and labors of the Methodist ministry, 
we are willing that they should go where 
they can surround themselves with more 
congenial circumstances. 

From the foregoing remarks it may be 



80 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

inferred that the scheme we advocate acts 
propitiously upon the prospects and use- 
fulness of young men just entering the 
ministry. 

It also finds employment for old men as 
long as they are able to do effective service. 
The other consigns them to silence and 
obscurity, when, as yet, their power for 
usefulness is but slightly diminished. Here 
allow me to introduce again the eloquent 
writer on Ex-pastors : — 

" Vacant churches and parishes, having 
the like predilection for a young pastor, 
decline the services of the older candidates, 
dismissed from their former charges, and 
wait the opportunity of securing the settle- 
ment of some one who has but just girded 
on the ministerial armor. Thus the same 
cause that removes a minister from his 
charge, in this case acts with equal potency 
to preclude him from resuming it in any 
other place. To a great extent, this is the 
explanation of the unsuccessfulness of 
many ex-pastors, in their efforts to ob- 
tain resettlement. The ministerial com- 
mittee of the church and parish feel bound 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 81 

to say to older applicants for employment, 
though well recommended, and though 
themselves satisfied with their preaching, 
(if they speak the popular sentiment,) ' We 
want a young man, in all the vigor of 
body and mind, who will grow up and 
live with us for many years, and not one 
who is on the down-hill of life.' " — New- 
England Puritan, June 12th, 1841. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Our system equalizes more than any other the labors and 
support of the ministry — Distributes more equally 
the gifts of the ministry — Opens a wider field of use- 
fulness. 

We claim it as an excellence of our system 
that it equalizes, more than any other, the 
condition of the ministry. All must sub- 
ject themselves to the same liabilities. All 
must be in equal readiness to go wherever 
sent. It is true, there cannot be perfect 
equality. Some circuits and stations are 
more eligible than others, and some minis- 
ters are gifted with superior qualifications. 

That the ablest ministers should, as a ge- 
6 



82 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

neral rule, be found in connection with the 
most important stations, is to be expected. 
But no preacher can fasten upon a pleasant 
station and monopolize its advantages. 
He who is now favored must change place 
with his brother, who, perhaps, has been 
suffering great personal inconveniences for 
the good of the common cause. Thus an 
equality is preserved. One is not eased 
all the time, and another continually bur- 
dened. The inequality on the other plan 
is very great. Some, owing to a conjunc- 
ture of very favorable circumstances and the 
influence of powerful friends, are placed 
early in connection with wealthy and libe- 
ral congregations, and receive large sala- 
ries, by which they are able to surround 
themselves with every supposable advan- 
tage for study and personal comfort. 
While others, with equal qualifications for 
usefulness, and perhaps with talents equal- 
ly attractive, must spend their years in con- 
nection with comparatively small and bur- 
dened congregations, unable, if willing, to 
give more than a mere living. And others 
still must be tossed upon the billows of 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 83 

change, uncertain whether they will reach 
some friendly haven, or founder amid the 
waves, or suffer ministerial shipwreck on 
some desert shore. 

It may also be said in favor of our sys- 
tem, that it distributes more equally and 
extensively than any other the gifts of the 
ministry. God has endowed the ministry 
with various gifts for the edification of the 
church. He has not only conferred diver- 
sified gifts upon the same individual, but 
has also distinguished some by peculiar en- 
dowments of nature and grace. These 
ministers are the servants of the whole 
church ; their gifts are the property of 
the whole church. We cannot think that 
the leading churches of New- York, or 
Philadelphia, or Baltimore, or any other 
place, have a right to seize upon the most 
distinguished men, and make an exclusive 
appropriation of their services for life. We 
very much doubt whether it was possible 
for the church at Ephesus to acquire an 
exclusive right to the services of Paul, al- 
though he might profitably spend three 
years there. No. It was important that 



84 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

he should depart thence to preach the gos- 
pel in other places. 

The theory of a settled ministry gives to 
a congregation the monopoly of a minis- 
ter's gifts. The necessity of change is de- 
precated. If a young minister receives a 
call to an important congregation, and re- 
tains their preference, and continues with 
them until entirely disabled by old age, 
he is supposed to have gained a most en- 
viable triumph over adverse tendencies. 
His case is looked upon as exemplifying 
a chief excellence of the system. But we 
cannot see why the eminent gifts which 
enable a man to sustain himself so long in 
connection with an important congrega- 
tion should not be employed for the be- 
nefit of other congregations. Why should 
not other churches be enlightened by his 
reasoning, stirred by his eloquence, and 
impelled by his energy? Why should not 
the cloud, so richly surcharged, pass on to 
water other regions ? Let it be kept in mind 
that the most powerful men are the most 
likely to be thus restricted. Even an oc- 
casional exchange of pulpits is not without 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 85 

danger to the congregation, if not to the 
minister. 

These remarks suggest another of the 
peculiar advantages of Methodism. The 
minister settled for life preaches from year 
to year to a few hundreds, and these, with 
few variations, the same persons. The 
Methodist preacher preaches to thousands 
upon thousands. It is as if the great Head 
of the church should, on giving him his 
commission, bear him to some elevated 
spot, and place before him, on a vast area, 
an innumerable multitude, and say, — Be- 
hold thy parish. Here is thy congregation. 
Thou canst not minister to all at the same 
time. I therefore divide them into com- 
panies of hundreds. Thou shalt preach 
for one year to this company, and another 
to this, and two years to this, and so on, 
until thou shalt have delivered thy message 
to all. Meantime I will send others be- 
fore thy face who shall prepare thy way 
before thee. I will also cause others to 
follow thee, and enter into thy labors, so 
that the fruit thereof shall not be lost. 



86 POLITY OF METHODISM. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Our system carries the gospel and its ordinances where 
they could not be carried upon any other plan — Affect- 
ing picture of moral desolations incident to the oppo- 
site scheme — These avoided by Methodism — Keeps 
churches supplied, and ministers employed. 

Our system enables us to carry the gospel, 
and the ordinances of Christianity, where 
they could not be carried on the other sys- 
tem, and is, consequently, a more effective 
instrumentality in the accomplishment of 
the gospel commission. If a place is able 
to sustain a minister, and sufficient reasons 
exist why it should have the entire services 
of one, our plan provides for its steady and 
permanent supply. 

But there may be a great many places, 
within a given district of country, not one 
of which is capable of sustaining a minis- 
ter ; and yet it is important that all these 
places should be steadily supplied with all 
the means of grace. It is in vain to sup- 
pose that the people of an extensive dis- 
trict of country will travel great distances, 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 87 

to some central point, where a large parish 
church may be located, Now our itinerancy- 
enables us to reach the most remote and 
neglected neighborhoods. They are not 
favored with an occasional sermon merely. 
Two preachers, placed on a circuit, will 
travel several hundreds of miles in the 
course of a month, and supply thirty dif- 
ferent places with preaching, as often as 
once in two weeks. And should there be, 
within the bounds of the circuit, a place 
of more importance than the rest, arrange- 
ments may be made to supply it with 
preaching on every sabbath-day. Nor are 
these places supplied with preaching only. 
At each place the believers are formed into 
societies, or branch churches, united under 
the pastorship of the circuit. Each of 
these churches is supplied with all the 
ordinances of Christianity. The ecclesi- 
astical rights and privileges of each mem- 
ber are the same as those enjoyed in the 
more favored stations. They have regular 
pastoral supervision. So far from its being 
necessary that there should be church edi- 
fices to worship in, or a population able or 



88 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

willing to support a minister, in order to 
secure church privileges, it is enough that 
a school-house, or a barn, or a private 
dwelling, can be procured, and a very- 
small number of believers united. It is 
by the operation of this plan that we have 
been able to follow the tide of immigration 
to the west, and preach the gospel and or- 
ganize churches in the log cabins of the 
remotest frontier settlers. By its powerful 
and effective working, these small societies 
are fostered, until they acquire strength 
enough to stand alone, each supporting its 
own minister ; and even until the original 
circuit, divided and subdivided, becomes, 
at last, a conference territory, with its mul- 
titude of preachers, its districts, circuits, 
and stations. 

And should churches, barely able, in 
their highest prosperity, to sustain pastors, 
become feeble, this plan obviates the ne- 
cessity of their becoming destitute. They 
can fall back into the contiguous circuits. 
This may not be very pleasant. To re- 
cede from an advanced position is not 
usually desirable. But churches, like in- 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 89 

dividuals, are liable to adverse changes. 
Now what can churches in such a condi- 
tion do on the plan of a settled ministry, 
elected and called by the churches them- 
selves ? Their pastors have been obliged 
to leave them, and they need not call 
others. By just such disastrous circum- 
stances, multitudes of churches of other 
denominations have been broken up. The 
thorn and the thistle have come upon their 
altars. Others are obliged to remain for a 
long time without the ministry of the word 
and the sacraments. A sad picture of de- 
solation, from this cause, is drawn in a 
" Report of the Directors of the Missionary 
Society of Connecticut, auxiliary to the 
A. H. M. S.," published in the Congrega- 
tional Observer : — 

" In making their twenty-fifth annual 
report, the directors deem it not unsuitable 
to glance at the condition of the feeble 
churches in this state a quarter of a cen- 
tury ago — as the review will present a con- 
trast, which, if not all we could wish, may 
still be enough to excite our warmest gra- 
titude. A sermon preached in the year 



90 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

1814, which had no small influence in 
causing the organization of this society, 
has the following language : 

" ' That there are desolations in this state, 
will not be questioned by any minutely 
acquainted with our circumstances. Not 
a few societies have ceased to hear those 
doctrines of the gospel by the instrumen- 
tality of which the Spirit of God awakens, 
converts, and sanctifies men. A number 
of churches have become feeble, and by 
hard struggling prolong, from year to year, 
the enjoyment of divine institutions ; while 
some have long since fallen, and are lying 
now in utter desolation. 

" ' Societies might be named, where the 
church is extinct and the house of God in 
ruins. The blasts of winter rave through 
it, the flocks of summer find a shelter in it. 
The sabbath is a holiday. The authority 
of revelation has ceased with many, and 
by others is employed to sanction doc- 
trines not less destructive than atheism. 
Preachers are patronized, whose object it 
is to keep the audience laughing by ridi- 
culing the ministers and the doctrines of 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 91 

the gospel. A revival of religion would 
be regarded with as virulent enmity as 
Jews or pagans regarded Christianity. 
There are, in this state, districts as far from 
heaven — and, without help, as hopeless of 
heaven — as the pagans of Hindostan or 
China. 

" ■ From these wastes also sally forth the 
infidel, seeking whom he may devour; 
the Universalist, to quiet profligates in sin, 
and multiply their number; the political 
empiric, to augment his party ; and the 
sectarian of every name, to proselyte, until 
a broad circumference around shall be- 
come as divided, and weak, and desolate, 
as Babel itself. Evil communications cor- 
rupt good manners. Their word eateth as 
doth a canker. Facts, lamentable facts, 
may be found in this state, to justify these 
apprehensions. There are at this moment, 
in this state, waste places which exert pre- 
cisely the kind of influence which we have 
ascribed to them.' " 

The report from which the above is ex- 
tracted is signed, " Horace Hooker, Secre- 
tary, Hartford, June 14, 1841." The writer 



92 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

on " Ex-pastors," in the article published 
July 17, 1841, on the causes of the removal 
of pastors, makes the following observation: 

" Truth and justice also demand the 
statement, that the smallness of numbers 
and pecuniary ability, in many churches, 
have broken up the connection between 
them and their pastors, who were settled 
with the fixed determination to sustain 
privations, and endure hardness as good 
soldiers of Jesus Christ. The number of 
churches in Vermont represented as unable 
to sustain settled pastors has thus become 
as great, if not greater, than those having 
the requisite ability." 

The application of missionary funds 
collected in the abler churches, for the 
assistance of feebler ones, has of late years 
obviated or remedied, to some extent, the 
difficulties thus eloquently and affectingly 
portrayed. The missionary report states, 
that " appropriations were made the past 
year to thirty-two feeble churches in Con- 
necticut." 

But the abler churches will have some- 
thing to do, if they undertake to sustain, in 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 93 

whole, or in part, settled ministers in all 
the feeble churches already in existence, 
and also to found churches and sustain 
pastors in all places where they are needed. 

Now no such reports of desolations and 
destitutions occur in the history of Method- 
ism. The superiority of its economy ap- 
pears in this, that it can embrace in the 
circuits all those churches that are too 
feeble for self-support, and can, in the 
mean time, go on enlarging the boundaries 
of its domain, by raising up other churches 
in every direction. This is its regular 
action. Besides its aggressive activity, it 
wields a conservative poicer, which goes 
far toward explaining the fact of its un- 
paralleled success. And if it be necessary 
to make a temporary application of mis- 
sionary funds to places too isolated to be 
brought, conveniently into circuit relations, 
or affected by other peculiar circumstances, 
Methodism can as, easily avail itself of this 
provision as any other system. 

It prevents the serious loss which accrues 
from multitudes of ministers being with- 
out employment, while nearly as many, if 



94 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

not more, churches are vacant. This state 
of things results inevitably from the elect- 
ing plan. Neither churches nor ministers 
will be in haste to make engagements, 
when change is attended with so much 
difficulty. Why should a minister accept 
a call to some feeble country church, un- 
able to support him comfortably, when the 
very next mail may bring a call to one far 
more eligible? Why should he expend 
his money and time in traveling far west, 
for a church, when a little patient waiting 
may procure him one where he would 
greatly prefer to labor ? It is too much to 
require of ministers a readiness to sacrifice 
everything, while churches are disposed to 
sacrifice nothing. It is an uncontrollable 
consequence of this plan, that, at any given 
period, there will be a number of churches 
without pastors, and ministers without 
churches. Not so with ours. Each min- 
ister holds himself in readiness to be sent, 
and each church holds itself in readiness 
to receive the messenger, saying, " How 
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet 
of him that bringeth good tidings !" Hence 



POLITY OF METHODISE 95 

we have not a throng of ministerial idlers 
crowding the market places, waiting to be 
hired, or negotiating the terms on which 
they will go to work in the vineyard. 



CHAPTER XIV 

Additional objections considered — The Methodist itine- 
rant ministry shown to be permanent — Favorable to 
the diffusion of religious knowledge and to growth in 
piety. 

I now proceed to notice some other objec- 
tions. 

Mr. Tyler, in his Congregational Cate- 
chism, at the close of his article on the 
Constitution of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, objects that our system is " con- 
trary " to the " highest advancement of the 
members in Christian knowledge and ex- 
perience." This, he says, requires a " per- 
manent ministry ." What does he mean 
by a permanent ministry ? He either mis- 
apprehends the facts of the case, or is 
somewhat unfortunate in his phraseology. 
The itinerant Methodist ministry is per- 



96 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

manent. It is constant and unceasing. 
Much is said about " the permanency of 
the pastoral relation," Perhaps this is what 
he has reference to. Here, as I have 
shown, our ministry has the advantage 
greatly. Our pastoral relation never ceases, 
never intermits, so long as we possess the 
requisite qualifications. The mere change 
of a pastor, from one part of the field to 
another, does not suspend the relation. 
The very act which dissolves his pastoral 
relation to one church places him in the 
same relation to another. The churches 
are never without pastors. The pastors 
are never without churches. Whereas, 
on his system, multitudes of ministers are 
thrown out of that relation, while their 
eligibility is unimpaired, and while multi- 
tudes of churches are destitute of pastors. 
This ambiguous phraseology is designed 
to signify a permanent union between a 
particular church and a particular minis- 
ter. But if this be necessary to constitute 
a permanent ministry, and to secure the 
" highest edification and improvement of 
the people," the permanent ministry in- 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 97 

eludes but a very few individuals ; and but 
very few of the churches — even of those 
which elect their pastors — are favored with 
the advantages described. 

I acknowledge that if it can be made to 
appear that our system is less effective 
than any other, in accomplishing any of 
the leading objects of the Christian minis- 
try, an important point will be gained by 
the objector. The grand reason why we 
prefer it will be invalidated. It has often 
required immense sacrifices, and the cheer- 
fulness with which ihey have been submit- 
ted to, has arisen from the conviction, that 
it is the most effective in promoting the 
spread and advancement of holiness. And 
we still think that a reference to results will 
justify this preference. 

The author of the Catechism does not 
go into particulars, and show T how his 
system exemplifies its superiority in this 
respect. This was prevented doubtless by 
the brevity which his plan required. The 
argument is, however, ably presented by 
the Rev. Dr. Porter of Farmington, in an 
essay on the " Permancy of the Pastoral 



98 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

Relation," which appeared in the New- 
York Evangelist, February 22, 1844. Dr. 
Porter is not professedly objecting to our 
system, but to the policy of frequent 
changes, and especially in the ministry of 
the Congregational churches. 

I refer to his essay because it contains 
the arguments usually urged against our 
itinerancy. He remarks: " A minister who 
has only a transient connection with a 
church needs but a few discourses, and 
will be furnished with but few. These for 
the most part will be composed on the 
more prominent topics of the gospel, or 
those which are best adapted to popular 
effect. With the delivery of them his work 
begins and ends, and, being done, is fol- 
lowed by the same thing over again, with 
some variety of voice and manner, by the 
ministration of another. Under such in- 
structions, unless the defect be supplied by 
other means, the churches, if not as chil- 
dren, tossed to and fro and carried about 
by every wind of doctrine — are yet chil- 
dren, instead of being carried forward ac- 
cording to the design of the Christian min- 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 99 

istry, ' unto a perfect man, unto the mea- 
sure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.' 
This design, to say the least, is best attain- 
ed by the stated instructions of J pastors 
and teachers/ They are obliged, by the 
sameness of their auditories, 4 to bring 
forth continually from their treasuries, as 
wise householders, things new and old;' 
' to give attendance to reading, to medita- 
tion, to doctrine, that their profiting may 
appear unto all ; to acquire that various 
learning, and employ it to give that inte- 
rest, variety, comprehensiveness, and effect,, 
to their ministrations, without which, when 
the chain of novelty is gone, their hold on 
their hearers must soon be enfeebled." 
The doctor also instances "the appropri- 
ateness of the ministrations of the settled 
ministry. They are not the random dis- 
courses of a stranger," &c. 

This description of the transient minister 
may apply to the candidate, and stated 
supplies, of those churches which elect their 
pastors ; but it is not to be taken as a just 
portraiture of the Methodist ministry. The 
number of discourses required by a min- 



100 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

istry of two years, in a station, is not so 
inconsiderable. Suppose that two are re- 
quired on each sabbath, the whole number 
will be two hundred and eight. And if 
these are composed "mostly on the lead- 
ing topics " of the gospel, I apprehend this 
will be no disadvantage. These are, after 
all, the most important topics, and there 
will be need of their coming up frequently. 
Nor does the work of an itinerant Method- 
ist minister begin and end with the de- 
livery of his sermons. He is required to 
attend to the whole round of pastoral 
duties. His case may be compared with 
that of a Congregational or Presbyterian 
pastor who should serve his congregation 
faithfully for two years, and then be re- 
moved by death. Nor is it certain that 
his successor will go over precisely the 
same ground. The fact of Methodist 
preachers succeeding each other, as they 
do, makes it a dangerous thing for them 
to preach each other's sermons, or to bor- 
row from a common source, as may be 
done by a settled ministry. They are sure 
to be detected in either of these practices. 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 101 

They must make their own sermons. 
There will, therefore, in all probability, be 
a great variety in the manner in which 
they discuss the leading topics of the gos- 
pel. Nor can I believe that the preaching 
of the Congregationalists and Presbyte- 
rians is so stereotyped, that one minister 
cannot follow another without repeating 
just what his predecessor has said. The 
representation of Dr. Porter appears to me 
to be too strong for the facts of the case. 



CHAPTER XT. 

Our system provides suitably for the universal fondness 
for novelty — Probable result of systematic and judi- 
cious change of pastors in other denominations — Af- 
ords ample opportunity for giving varied instruction. 

It must be admitted, that ministers settled 
for life will be obliged to study laboriously, 
if they retain their hold upon their congre- 
gations. But how few succeed ? I mean, 
how few of the great number licensed and 
ordained. This may be owing, in some 
instances, to indolence or inability. Many, 
however, neither indolent nor unqualified, 



102 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

will often be under the necessity of coming 
before the people with crude productions, 
badly arranged, badly written, and badly 
delivered. The various calls and duties, 
the numerous unforeseen hinderances, to 
which a pastor is liable, will often make 
the work of preparation a very hurried 
process ; and so far from appropriateness 
being the thing considered, the inquiry 
will be, How shall I procure something to 
say ? It is not an easy work to prepare 
good sermons. Many settled ministers re- 
peat their old ones with great frequency, 
sometimes in connection with the same 
text of Scripture, and sometimes with a 
change of text. And should their dis- 
courses be all suitably elaborated, and 
characterized by the desired variety and 
appropriateness, it will still be difficult for 
them to keep up the attention and interest 
of their congregations for a long series of 
years. The people become familiar with 
their style of thought and expression. 
They may bring out of their treasuries 
new things, but their hearers will scarcely 
distinguish them from the old. Of what 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 103 

avail will be all their labor if it is not ap- 
preciated ? So far as my observation and 
information have gone, the ablest settled 
ministers, as a general rule, lose their 
power to affect their congregations greatly 
on the subject of religion, after preaching 
to them two or three years. They may 
keep up their reputation for learning, for 
eloquence, for piety. They may be re- 
garded, and justly so, as the ablest minis- 
ters of the places where they are settled. 
They may be sustained by the intellectual 
and wealthy portions of society, and by 
the influence of powerful families ; but 
they will not often be the immediate in- 
struments of revivals. Inquire into the 
history of the revivals occurring in their 
churches, should there be any, and you 
will find that, passing over the first two or 
three years of their settlement in any place, 
the immediate instrumentality has been 
the labors of some stranger, who has had 
no other advantage over the settled minis- 
ter than the power with which novelty in- 
vested him. Undoubtedly it is from this 
source that evangelists derive much of 



104 POLITT OF METHODISM. 

their ability to stir the communities in 
which they labor. This desire for novelty 
may be denounced as an evil — a thing to 
be discouraged, if not wholly suppressed. 
That it is adverse to the interests of a set- 
tled ministry is obvious. But I ask, Is it 
not natural ? Has it not been planted in 
our nature for wise purposes ? Would 
not the absence of it produce a most un- 
wholesome stagnation in society ? Is not 
that plan of distributing ministerial labor 
the best, which, while it provides uninter- 
rupted pastoral oversight and instruction, 
avails itself of the great power of change ? 
Does not that system which makes no 
such provision contravene an original law 
of human nature ? Would it be a great 
disadvantage, on the score of piety and 
Christian knowledge, to the churches con- 
cerned, if certain eminent men in this com- 
munity, whom I forbear to name, were to 
change places, after the manner of the 
Methodist ministry? What churches in 
the country would suffer in these respects 
by two years' ministerial service from any 



POLITY OF MKTHuDISM. 105 

one of them ? Would not such a period 
be memorable in the history of any church ? 
His discourses would not be regarded as 
the random discourses of a stranger, and in- 
appropriate. And if each particular church 
should not gain by every change, the ag- 
gregate of gain to all the churches would 
be equal to the entire amount of whole- 
some mental stimulus secured by the judi- 
cious change of a host of able ministers of 
the new covenant. 

But selfishness or bigotry would sug- 
gest that I should forego this course of 
remark ; for if some denominations, which 
I could name, were to adopt our system, 
with their richly endowed and carefully 
selected ministry, there would be such a 
stir among their churches and the commu- 
nities in which they are located as they 
have never seen, and we should be divested 
of one of our prominent advantages. 

Dr. Porter admits that " there is less 
novelty in the ministrations of the same 
persons from year to year, than in those 
of a succession of individuals/' and that 



106 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

" so far as this alone may be supposed to 
have influence, they are less suited to fix 
the attention and move the heart." But 
does not the great secret of success in 
preaching consist in fixing the attention 
and moving the heart? What if there 
should not be quite so great a variety of 
topics in the preaching of an itinerant 
ministry, will not that preaching, which in- 
vests with frequent and exciting interest 
the great fundamental truths of Christianity, 
be likely to do more good than that which 
discusses them on distant occasions, and 
with less interest, filling up long intervals 
with discourses on subordinate topics, to 
avoid the appearance of sameness? He 
further admits " that, there are also indi- 
viduals whose constitutional susceptibili- 
ties or habits of life are better suited to a 
reception of truth in one form than an- 
other ; and who would, therefore, in some 
instances, be profited by a change of the 
ministry, even though the succeeding one 
were, on the whole, to be no better than 
the former." 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 107 

This is a very important consideration. 
He also adds: " There are those, too, whose 
prejudices prevent that benefit from the 
pastor under whom they live which they 
would receive from another." This fact 
should not be overlooked. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Our system not unfavorable to study and pulpit prepara- 
tion—Opinion of Eev. Dr. Baird — Practice of Presi- 
dent Davies — Provides adequate security against false 
teachers — Does not deprive the churches of resident 
pastors and teachers — Past usefulness — Adapted to a 
crowded, as well as a sparse, population. 

It is objected that frequent change inter- 
feres with the pastor's opportunities for 
study, and thus influences unfavorably his 
qualifications for usefulness. There are 
two sides to this question. Each system 
has its advantages and its disadvantages. 
The settled minister will be hard pressed 
for sermons. It is often matter of com- 
plaint that the studies, by which a prepa- 
ration for entering upon the duties of the 
pastor is acquired, are laid aside after those 



108 POLITY OF METPIODISM. 

duties are commenced. On the other hand, 
the Methodist itinerant may gain oppor- 
tunities for pursuing any particular branch 
of study which he may deem important. 
He can, if necessary, repreach his sermons. 
They will be as fresh to his new hearers 
as if prepared expressly for the occasion 
of their delivery. The Rev. Dr. Baird, in 
his recently published work on "Religion 
in America," speaks of this privilege as a 
very great advantage. He remarks : " But 
the grand advantage possessed by the Me- 
thodist itinerant preacher, and one which, 
if he has any talent at all, he cannot fail 
to profit by, is, that he may preach sooner 
or later in many or all of the eight, ten, or 
more, places in his circuit, the discourse 
with which be sets out, and which he has 
been preparing during the intervals of re- 
pose which he enjoys. This frequent 
repetition of the same sermon is an inesti- 
mable means of improvement. Each re- 
petition admits of some modification, as 
the discourse is not written out, and ena- 
bles the preacher to improve what is faulty, 
and to supply what seemed deficient in 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 109 

the preceding effort. No men accordingly, 
with us, become readier or more effective 
speakers." 

The Rev. Albert Barnes, in his " Intro- 
ductory Essay on the Life and Times of 
President Davies," quotes with approba- 
tion the following : " Mr. Davies wrote and 
prepared his sermons with great care ; this 
he was enabled to do, notwithstanding the 
great and multiplied pastoral duties which 
he had to perform, from the fact that he 
had so many places of preaching, and that 
they were so wide apart, that one sermon 
could be preached through his extensive 
range without much danger of any of his 
hearers having heard the same sermon 
twice. His common practice was to take 
his manuscripts with him into the pulpit, 
and make more or less use of them in de- 
livering his discourses. But his memory 
was such, and the frequent use he was 
permitted to make of the same sermon 
rendered it so familiar, that he was never 
trammeled in his delivery." In conse- 
quence of this one privilege, many Me- 
thodist preachers have risen from small 



110 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

beginnings to respectability, if not emi- 
nence, in general information, classical 
attainments, and usefulness ; while, from 
the want of it, many educated men have 
come down to a level with the unedu- 
cated. 

Dr. Porter claims in favor of a settled 
ministry that the churches are " not dis- 
tracted with various schemes and contra- 
dictory statements of doctrine, but are 
trained under the same scheme, in the 
apprehension of which they are built up 
in the unity of the faith and of the know- 
ledge of the Son of God." "Whether this 
uniformity be so great an advantage or 
not, will, of course, depend upon the cor- 
rectness of the doctrines taught. It is 
possible that a change in the scheme of 
doctrinal instruction might be of service. 
Some of the advocates of a settled ministry 
have thought so in some instances. Nor 
is a permanent union between one pastor 
and one church security against distracting 
changes. Ministers change. And I may 
venture to suggest that churches have as 



POLITY OF METHODISM. Ill 

often been distracted from this cause as 
the other. 

Mr. Tyler further objects that " it takes 
from the brethren the right of choosing 
their religious teachers ; on which right, 
more than any other, the church depends 
for defense against false and incompetent 
teachers," I shall postpone the question 
of the alledged right of the brethren, until 
I have done with the practical working of 
the system. I shall now examine the 
charge that it deprives the church of the 
chief " implement of defense against false 
and incompetent teachers." That Con- 
gregational and Presbyterian churches are 
greatly dependent upon this privilege, for 
security against the specified evil, I grant 
Take it from them, and they would be in 
a wholly defenseless condition. They 
have no supervision over the education or 
licensure of candidates. And if those who 
are introduced into the ministry without 
their consent, might also be made their 
pastors without their consent, they would 
have just cause for apprehension, But 



112 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

the structure of Methodism provides secu- 
rities peculiar to itself, and they are not 
less effective than those which characterize 
any other system, 

For, besides the fact already stated, 
namely, that no man can become eligible 
to the pastoral office until he has passed 
several times under the review of the 
church of which he is a member, being 
first recommended by the leaders' meeting 
for license to exhort merely — then recom- 
mended by the same body to the quarterly 
meeting conference for license as a local 
preacher — then licensed by the vote of a 
majority of the quarterly meeting confer- 
ence- — then recommended by the latter 
body to the annual conference as an itine- 
rant — when admitted into the itinerancy 
securities of a new description begin to 
operate. These are found, partly in the 
integrity of the ministry as a body, and 
partly in their interests. Should he prove 
incompetent to teach, or should he teach 
false doctrines, a complaint may be pre- 
ferred against him. His case will come 
by a regular process before the annual 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 113 

conference. And if other motives might 
be deemed insufficient to secure the pro- 
tection of the churches from the mischief 
which his ministry inflicts, the interests 
of the whole conference are deeply impli- 
cated in the case. Some member of the 
body ecclesiastical must succeed him, and 
meet the difficulties which he has engen- 
dered. Were the minister a Congrega- 
tionalism and the church Congregational, 
no one would be obliged to take his 
place. If the interests of the church 
were deeply wounded, and its strength 
greatly impaired, the ministers might wag 
their heads at it, and suffer it to go down. 
Not so a Methodist church and Methodist 
ministers. The damage must be repaired, 
or endured by the ministry as well as by 
the church. Each member -of - the confer- 
ence is bound, by the terms of the ministe- 
rial compact, to hold himself in readiness 
to go there, it may be to labor and suffer 
to the extent of his capabilities, and see but 
little desirable fruit. 

The author of the Catechism further 
objects that " it deprives the churches of 



114 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

resident pastors and teachers, contrary to 
primitive practice, and to the highest ad- 
vancement of the members in Christian 
knowledge and experience." 

In what way does it deprive the churches 
of resident pastors and teachers ? Our itine- 
rant preachers sustain the relation of pas- 
tors and teachers as much as do the settled 
ministers of other denominations. And I 
have shown that our system has this very 
great advantage over the one with which 
it is compared — that it keeps the churches 
constantly supplied with pastors. They 
are not liable to either the temporary or 
permanent destitutions which occur in con- 
nection with the other system. Nor can 
it be said that our pastors are not resident 
with their charge. I cannot but think that 
the worthy author was at a loss for mate- 
rial out of which to form an objection 
when he penned this. And how he could 
fall into such a misapprehension of facts 
is to me unaccountable. 

Mr. Tyler proposes the question : " Has 
not the Methodist itinerant system been 
productive of great good?" and answers 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 115 

it as follows : " Undoubtedly that feature 
of the Methodist economy has conduced 
much to its rapid growth and advance- 
ment. But it seems to be adapted to 
the early operations of a new sect, rather 
than to the highest edification and im- 
provement of the people. This requires 
a permanent ministry." To this I reply, 
that this system has been in operation in 
England for a century, and for nearly a 
century in this country, and we do not 
find in it as yet any want of adaptation to 
the great work of the Christian ministry. 
It loses nothing of its efficacy by age. The 
Methodists, in both countries, outstrip all 
other sects in their career of usefulness, 
notwithstanding their competitors in the 
noble strife have been so much longer in 
the field. 

That our itinerancy is specially adapted 
to new countries and a sparse population 
is obvious. It is no less adapted to older 
countries, and a crowded population. It 
is not an uncommon thing to find neigh- 
borhoods contiguous to the great cities as 
destitute of religious means and influence 



116 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

as the most distant and isolated portions 
of the country, and far more vicious, on 
account of their ready access to those fa- 
cilities for vice which cities afford. These 
places are not likely to be supplied on the 
plan of a settled ministry. The whole 
population of each place might be unable 
to support a minister, and, if able, they 
would not be likely to call one. They 
must first be sought out and made, by pa- 
tient instruction, to appreciate the gospel. 
The first preachers, if faithful, will be far 
more likely to meet with persecution than 
a liberal support. Now the tendency of a 
settled ministry is not to such places. They 
crowd into large cities. The greater the 
population, the greater the probability of a 
large church, and a competent support. 
Our plan enables us to take all these places 
into circuits, and to supply them with 
regular preaching and pastoral supervision. 
The greatest difficulties of the itinerancy 
are found in new and thinly settled coun- 
tries. The conferences, districts, and cir- 
cuits, must be spread over a wider terri- 
tory. The stations must be at a greater 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 117 

distance from each other. The toil and in- 
convenience of removals are so much the 
greater, and also of continued traveling 
around districts and circuits. To one who 
has any understanding of the philosophy 
of Methodism, it must be at once apparent, 
that every new city or village which springs 
up operates in our favor, by bringing our 
churches into close contiguity. Every new 
road opened, every old one repaired, every 
turnpike, every canal, every foot of rail- 
road, every new steamboat, every bridge, 
is so much added to our facilities. It is 
as if the whole community were at work 
to cast up a highway for us. Our ends 
are answered just as much as if the money 
were subscribed and the work done by us, 
or by others for our special benefit. The 
friction of our ecclesiastical machinery is 
continually diminishing. 

And what is thus working to our ad- 
vantage, is operating against the other sys- 
tem. Parishes are no longer secluded. 
They are constantly visited by strangers. 
The people will hear new voices, and be 
captivated by novelty, The settled minis- 



118 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

ter will have to work hard to retain the 
preferences of his hearers. They will tra- 
vel more, hear a greater variety of ministers 
abroad, and thus widen the field of com- 
parison. The minister himself, if he is not 
quite satisfied, can take a trip of several 
hundreds of miles: give specimens of his 
eloquence to several different congregations 
in the course of a week or two ; and thus 
open the way for a call. 



CHAPTEE XVIL 

Unfounded comparison between Congregational and 
Presbyterian evangelists and missionaries, and the 
itinerant ministers of the M. E. Church— -Concio ad 
Clerum of Rev. A. Newton — The operations of evan- 
gelists and missionaries incongruous with the interests 
of a settled ministry. 

Lest it should be supposed that our 
system has in any respect the advantage 
of Congregationalism, Mr. Tyler adds : 
" And it should also be recollected, in in- 
stituting a comparison between the Con- 
gregational and Methodist systems, that 
the employment of traveling preachers, 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 119 

although reduced to a system and carried 
to a great extent by the Methodists, is not 
unknown to Congregationalism. Evan- 
gelists and missionaries are not confined 
to the care of a single church ; and it would 
be in perfect keeping with Congregational 
order to supply new and thinly inhabited 
regions with an itinerant ministry." He 
would persuade his readers that Congrega- 
tionalism unites, or may unite, all the ad- 
vantages of the itinerant system of the 
Methodists with the superior advantages 
of a settled ministry. 

That Congregationalists employ evan- 
gelists and missionaries, we admit; but 
their missionary operations are a mere ap- 
pendage to Congregational order. Let the 
missionary be called and settled ; in other 
words, let him become a pastor, according 
to their theory of constituting pastors ; and 
he ceases to be a missionary. He belongs 
to the settled ministry. His church may 
receive aid from the funds of the Mission- 
ary Society, but that does not make him 
a missionary. Otherwise a great portion 
of the settled ministers of Connecticut are 



120 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

missionaries. But if he is not called and 
settled by the people to whom he minis- 
ters, upon whose authority does he go ? 

He is appointed by the official board of 
the Missionary Society, and subject to its 
control. Mr. Tyler says : "Evangelists and 
missionaries are not confined to the care 
of a single church. 5 ' Is this designed to 
imply that they have pastoral care? It 
cannot be pretended that evangelists have. 
Nor can missionaries, except in violation 
of the principles of Congregationalism in 
reference to the source of pastoral authority. 

I should like to be informed how Con- 
gregationalists could, consistently with their 
order, supply " new and thinly inhabited 
regions with an itinerant ministry/ 7 A 
writer in the New-En glander, vol. i, page 
131, proposes, "as the true remedy for a 
surplusage of ministers in certain districts, 
to send forth to other regions all who are 
properly qualified, and to put them to work, 
and keep them at work, where their labors 
will be effectual for the advancement of 
the kingdom of God." Perhaps this is the 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 121 

scheme. I am glad to see this recognition 
of the sending principle. 

But how will this sending comport with 
the alledged right, of the people to elect their 
teachers, and the teachers their people ? 
It is apparent that, to remedy the difficulty 
complained of, it*is necessary for them to 
depart altogether from their boasted theory ; 
and the alternative to be adopted is one 
which would never be submitted to by the 
equalizing and free spirit of Methodism. 

But Congregationalism has not thepower 5 
whether legitimate or otherwise, to send its 
surplusage of ministers from one region to 
another. The theological schools may 
send forth hundreds eveiy year; the asso- 
ciations may license them, and thus render 
them eligible to the pastoral work ; but 
there is no authority which can require 
them to go anywhere. If necessity, or 
the spirit of their holy calling, should in- 
duce them to place themselves under the 
direction and control of the American 
Home Missionary Society, still the power 
necessary to keep them employed where 



122 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

their labors are in demand does not exist. 
They can withdraw themselves from the 
service of that society, and crowd the 
market in New-England, leaving vast 
numbers of churches in hopeless destitu- 
tion. It is true, a Methodist minister may 
withdraw himself from the field assigned 
him, but in so doing he relinquishes his 
eligibility to the pastoral relation. 

In reference to evangelists, it is the opin- 
ion of many Congregationalists and Pres- 
byterians that their office (if office they 
can be said to have) is quite incongruous 
with that of a settled ministry. Among 
the papers which I have preserved, since 
the attacks of Congregationalists on Me- 
thodism aroused me to this investigation, 
are extensive extracts from the " Concio ad 
Clemm" preached by Rev. A. Newton, at 
a late commencement of the Western Re- 
serve College, on the subject of the em- 
ployment in the churches of a class of 
men called evangelists. It was published 
in the Ohio Observer by request of the 
ministers who heard it. The extracts are 
found in the New-England Puritan, for 



POLITT OF METHODISM. 123 

Sept. 23, 1841, the editor of which remarks : 
" The publication of such a sermon among 
the churches at the west is a token for 
good." I ask attention to the following 
passages : — 

"Another evil of the system is its un- 
happy effect upon the pastoral relation. 

" It is a fact, which I think will not be 
questioned, that where evangelists have 
labored most, there the pastoral relation has 
been most precarious. A few years ago 
it was almost a matter of course, in some 
portions of the country, that the dismissions 
of the pastor followed the labors of the 
evangelist. And those churches which 
have adopted this system have been un- 
able, in general, to retain a pastor above 
two or three years. There are, or have been, 
large sections of the Presbyterian Church, 
where a permanent ministry is among the 
things that were — whole presbyteries ex- 
ist with scarcely one installed pastor with- 
in their bounds. These very sections have 
been the theatre of the new system of opera- 
tions. So uniformly has the one state of 
things followed the other, that we must be- 



124 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

lieve they sustain to each the relation of 
cause and effect, or else renounce one of 
the first maxims of sound reasoning. 

" But can we not see, in the nature of 
the cause itself, that which would lead us 
to expect just such effects. Is there not 
enough in the novel, eccentric, theatrical, 
story-telling style of preaching, which is 
sedulously cultivated by many evangelists, 
to make many people think that is the best 
way of preaching, and almost the only 
way to do good ? Is it not easy to con- 
ceive that a large portion of almost every 
congregation may be so captivated, at first, 
with it, that they would be dissatisfied with 
any other ? Why, the Bible itself becomes 
a stale book to minds accustomed to such 
preaching. The burning eloquence of Paul, 
even, has nothing to excite them. What 
wonder, then, is it, that they grow tired of 
their pastor, whose voice they have heard 
for a score of years, even though he may 
preach with the zeal and fervor of an apostle ! 

" But there is another way in which this 
system affects the pastoral relation. Most 
evangelists deem themselves more com- 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 125 

petent than the pastor, not only to preach, 
but to manage the v\iiole revival They 
know just how many meetings, and at 
what time they should be held, better than 
he who has been on the ground twenty 
years. They therefore insist on having the 
sole direction ; and if the pastor attempts 
to resist the usurpation of his rights, he 
does it at the peril of exciting against him, 
not only the opposition of the evangelist, 
but all whom he can enlist in his behalf. 
Thus the foundation is speedily laid of 
disaffection between himself and his 
people, and of ultimate separation. How 
many dismissions have resulted from this 
cause alone, let the history of past years 
decide. What division, discord, and every 
evil work, have been connected with these 
movements, let those churches testify which 
have been brought to the very verge of 
ruin by them." 

So much for Mr. Tylers attempt to 
make it appear that the operations of an 
intinerant system may be harmoniously 
united with the Congregational plan of a 
settled ministry. 



126 POLITY OF METHODISM. 



CHAPTER XVIIL 

Methodism does not deprive its churches of any right by 
its mode of supplying them with pastors. 

Mr. Tyler objects, as we have seen, that 
the Methodist system "takes from the 
brethren the right of choosing their reli- 
gions teachers." 

There is a vagueness in the phraseology 
of this objection, which makes it important 
that we should ascertain definitely its im- 
port 

In the first part, the objector cannot be 
understood to mean that our system inter- 
feres with the right of members of other 
denominations to choose their teachers ; 
or, secondly, that it denies to any the right 
to join whatever denomination they may 
desire to join. Methodists become and 
continue such of their free choice. If any 
become dissatisfied with Methodism, or 
Methodist preachers, the wide field of 
Christendom is before them, and there is 
no restraint upon their liberty. If he mean 
to be understood that the Methodist laity 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 127 

have nothing to say in determining who 
shall be elevated to the pastoral office, the 
objection has already been refuted. But 
he means nothing more, it is presumed, 
than that particular churches or congrega- 
tions among the Methodists are deprived 
of their right to elect their immediate pas- 
tors. The objection is refuted by the 
single fact, that the right alledged never ex- 
isted. With us, churches have no more 
right to elect their pastors, than pastors 
their churches. We readily grant that the 
Congregation alists, the Presbyterians, the 
Baptists, and others, have this right. It is 
conceded, or rather created, by the consti- 
tutions of their churches. It is one of the 
terms of the ecclesiastical compact into 
which they have entered. But no such 
right is acquired by becoming a Methodist. 
It is not in the compact. On the contrary, 
a connection with the Methodist Episcopal 
Church implies an agreement that the 
ministry shall be otherwise appointed. 

Perhaps it will be affirmed that such a 
compact is vicious — that it nullifies a right 
conferred by a higher charter, the New 



128 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

Testament, Can any one prove this? 
Where is the text? Let it be adduced, 
and the argument is at an end. 

Will it be replied that, although no 
statutory clause can be found, primitive 
practice determines the question? We 
are willing to abide the result of this issue. 
Bring forward, then, from the New Testa- 
ment, a single, instance of a church electing 
its immediate pastor. I have looked in 
vain for one. 

My impression is, that a thorough ex- 
amination of the sacred oracles, in search 
of examples of ministers receiving calls to 
particular charges, and entering info stipu- 
lations for their support, would lead to 
some mortifying discoveries. I confess 
that I have met with one instance in the 
Old Testament. I refer to the case of the 
Levite, recorded in Judges, chapter xvii: 
He " departed out of the city from Bethle- 
hem-judah to sojourn where he could find 
a place." In other words, he was traveling 
as a candidate for a settlement. " And he 
came to Mount Ephraim, to the house of 
Micah." This Micah "had a house of 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 129 

gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, 
and consecrated one of his sons, who be- 
came his priest." " And Micah said unto 
him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a 
father and a priest, and I will give thee 
ten shekels of silver by the year, and a 
suit of apparel, and thy victuals." The 
Levite accepted the call. " And Micah 
consecrated him, and he became his priest." 
Some time after this he received another 
call. Certain Danites said unto him, " Go 
with us, and be to us a father and a priest : 
is it better for thee to be a priest unto the 
house of one man, or that thou be a priest 
unto a tribe, and a family in Israel?" 
This reasoning was decisive. He was not 
at all averse to promotion. His " heart 
was glad." He took the image, and the 
ephod, and the teraphim, belonging to 
Micah, and went off to serve his new con- 
gregation. 

It is by no means my intention to give 
this Levite as the prototype of the settled 
ministry. In its ranks Christianity finds 
many of her brightest ornaments. I cite 
it as the only instance which I can find in 



130 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

the sacred oracles of a minister accepting 
a call to a particular charge, and of mutual 
contracting between him and his charge, 
for services on the one hand, and support 
on the other. 

So far as the New Testament is con- 
cerned, every example, to my view, looks 
the other way. The Saviour sent forth 
his disciples two and two, assigning them 
their field of labor. The apostles refused 
to be detained in any place by the most 
urgent solicitation ; but, regarding all the 
churches as their joint pastoral care, went 
here and there, as the Holy Ghost, or a 
sense of duty, moved them. Paul sent 
Titus, and another not named, but of 
whom it is said, " His praise is in all the 
churches, 5 ' to Corinth. Subsequently, he 
sent Timothy and Erastus into Macedonia, 
with instructions to include Corinth in 
their field of labor. He sent Tychicus to 
Ephesus. He sent Epaphroditus to the 
Philippian Church, and expressed a hope 
that he would shortly be able to send 
Timothy unto them. 

Perhaps we shall be told that the 



POLITY OF METHODISM. 131 

churches of the New Testament elected 
their own officers. This is a debatable 
proposition. I hesitate not to deny it. 
But if it should be granted that they elect- 
ed other officers, the proof that they elected 
their pastors would still be lacking, and 
this is, at present, the sole point in dis- 
pute. 

It may be thought, however, that, if it 
should be admitted that these churches 
elected any of their officers, a very strong 
presumption would arise that they elected 
all their officers, including, of course, their 
pastor. We think otherwise. "Were a 
foreigner, speculating upon the theory and 
practice of American republicanism, to 
infer that all the officers of our govern- 
ment are elected by popular suffrage, from 
the fact that some are, his inference would 
be contradicted by facts notorious to every 
intelligent American. 

Failing to establish this alledged right 
of churches to elect their pastors, either by 
the precept or practice of the New Testa- 
ment, some may be disposed to fall upon 
the pretence that it is a natural right. A 



132 POLITY OF METHODISM. 

single reflection will expose the absurdity 
of this view. Natural rights belong to men 
as men, and not as Methodists or Presby- 
terians. And to say that natural rights 
may be acquired by joining any associa- 
tion would be to perpetrate a gross sole- 
cism. It would be to destroy the very 
distinction between natural and conven- 
tional rights upon which the supposed ar- 
gument of the objector is based. But who 
will affirm that men have a right, as men — 
apart from their religious character, or 
without membership in any church, and 
independently of any other conventional 
privilege — to say what particular minister 
shall be the pastor of this or that congrega- 
tion ? No one, it is presumed. The re- 
sult is, that Methodism deprives no one of 
his rights by its mode of supplying its 
churches with pastors. 



THE END. 



H 113 82 ,* 






^♦* 






O, *o « ft 




• ■•' 







W > 














* £S^fc 3lS& * * Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper pre 
* ^ ^fr "* Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
& Treatment Date: May 2006 

^ PreservationTechnologiej 







A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVA1 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724) 779-21 1 1 




















^ ** % 









^ V 



*>CT 






; 



r 




^y MAR 82 

•jffijjf N. MANCHESTER, 
^S^T INDIANA 46962 







